


Eidolon

by ayamari_no_goshi



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Curses, Gen, Ghosts, Kidnapping, Mystery, Paranormal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:29:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 45,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27537613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ayamari_no_goshi/pseuds/ayamari_no_goshi
Summary: AU: What started off as the result of a simple act of rebelion ends up causing his life to spin out of control. How will young Danny cope with the results as well as a past that has a strange habit of coming back to haunt him.Originally posted years ago on ff.net - cross-posted for motivation to finally complete it
Comments: 27
Kudos: 36





	1. Prelude

It was getting worse. In a last attempt for some stability, he desperately grasped at one of his bed posts as another convulsion coursed through his body. That pain that accompanied it was even more intense than it was the previous time.

It was the pain that had him clinging in a desperate plea to not be consumed by its fire. With each convulsion, the fire burned hotter and more forcefully, slowly replacing the living with the dead.

Another shudder rocked his body, causing him to collapse. He was now fully aware that the fire had spread to his lungs. As he took his last breaths before they seized completely, he reached out in one last attempt to find something that might explain what he had done to deserve such a terrible fate…

…

…

Winston Wolfe was definitely angry. As a man with military training, he usually was very good at keeping his emotions under control. However, with the current situation, there was little his training could do. Something of his had gone missing, and he was tearing his house apart trying to find some clue as to where it could have gone.

As he searched his house encountering little luck, he muttered Russian curses at himself and the missing 'object' in question for being so idiotic. He had left the house for a few hours in order to see if he could get some sort of information about a call that he was expecting, and, in that time, it appears that the object had managed to slip out of the house, again.

"Daniel!" he shouted in a tone that was mixed with anger and exasperation. For, the object that was missing was actually Winston's teenage charge, Daniel.

This had not been the first time that the boy had decided to sneak out of the house. In fact, this sort of thing was beginning to become rather frequent. It was definitely irritating to the former military man, since it was a clear disregard of his orders. However, once he found the boy, he knew that it was going to be difficult for him to remain angry with him for too long. The boy was his son, even if there was no true relation between them.

Besides, he really could not blame the boy for sneaking out of the house. He had been in Winston's care for several years and had been home schooled for most of it. And, frequently, he had not been allowed out of the house much, mostly due to Winston's own fears and his sense of duty. He had tried on his own to take care of the boy, after giving his word that he would do everything in his power to protect him. Even though Amity Park was a relatively safe place to live, one could never be too careful.

A gnawing fear as well as anger coursed through him each time the boy escaped, even though he knew this was just part of normal teenage rebellion. What normal child would be content to stay inside all the time? However, Winston had begun to get harsher with the boy, once he was located. It was becoming a bit too regular for his liking. Who knew what an almost-fifteen-year-old boy might get himself into?

Also, even though the boy was usually not too hard to find, another thing that had begun to worry Winston was what had become the boy's favorite place to go. It was strange. One would think that he would go to a place where he could meet other kids his own age, since it was clear at times that he was lonely. Yet, he never seemed to go where there were any, choosing instead to claim the local graveyard as his favorite haunt.

The first time he found the boy there, he thought the boy might be looking for some sign of his parents, who had disappeared when he was an infant, although it quickly became apparent that was not the case. Daniel never seemed to be looking at the headstones when he found him. Instead, he had either been wondering rather aimlessly or peacefully sitting on one of the benches. There had been times that he had mistaken the boy's form for that of a shadow or even a ghost, not that he would ever admit that. Something about that quite graveyard seemed to take away the boy's human presence.

That, perhaps, was the most unsettling part of all of this.

Winston ran his hand through his still dark hair in frustration. The boy was definitely not in the house. After grabbing his coat, he marched out of the small house in the direction of where he was sure the boy had gone. Unsettling as Daniel's choice might be, at least he tended to be predictable.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He figured that he should probably head home, but that really didn't concern him too much at the moment. It was a nice day, and he really didn't get a chance to be outside for prolonged periods. Even if he did get in trouble, it was worth it.

The house was nice, but it really never changed. Sure, items, like furniture and clothes, came and went, but the house itself never changed, and that made it boring. That sense of boredom never seemed to come to him, at least quickly, when he was outside. From day to day, the scenery seemed to change. It was one of the things that enjoyed the most, along with the feeling of freedom.

Though he could not purchase anything, due to the lack of money, he felt as if he was able to do just about anything while he was outside. Yet, he never really felt any real urge to 'go crazy', as others might. It was enough just to wonder and to watch.

Something he never quite understood was his desire to wonder in locations where there were not many people. Every time he thought about it though, he just figured that Winston's warnings of staying away from strangers… well, most people in general, was so ingrained into his mind that it just happened subconsciously. Winston, however, did not like his normal choice of haunts, which he always thought was a bit strange.

When he first stumbled across the town's graveyard, he thought that perhaps he might find something about his parents. He knew that it probably would not amount to much since he had absolutely no information about them (Winston would often keep his mouth shut when the topic was breached), but he had gone anyways. And, it was that initial search that had peaked his interest.

Dates and epitaphs gave him clues about the lives of those who had come before him. The carvings, statues, and mausoleums showed him a macabre sense of beauty that could not really be found elsewhere. That art also would make him think about the possibilities of what might be out there. Many of the statues often depicted angels or religious figures, which often seemed to, in a sense, keep watch over the sacred grounds. At times, it even seemed like they were protectors as he occasionally felt as if there was something unseen lurking in the shadows of the trees. Although he knew there was nothing there, that feeling never seemed to be there when he was near one of the statues.

He suddenly stopped walking and turned towards his left. That feeling, the one of being watched, was back. His eyes narrowed as he glanced around. Nothing seemed to be there, but it was definitely more pronounced and uncomfortable than usual.

Although he really did not want to head back home just yet, that feeling made him too nervous to stay. It was better to play it safe, so he began to head back towards the entrance.

He tried to keep himself calm as he moved. Something was definitely not right. That feeling, whatever it was, seemed to be following him. Something seemed to move at the corner of his vision, causing him to stop. Was it just a squirrel or something? Or was it something else? It seemed a little too big to be just an animal…

"Hey, there he is!"

He was so startled that he could have sworn he jumped at least three feet in the air. He turned to the source of voice and was somewhat surprised to see two kids, about his age, coming towards him. The first was a girl with dark hair and clothes. The sounds of her heavy boots and accent chains seemed overly loud to him as she ran over. The second was a dark skinned boy wearing classes and a red beret. Although he was following the girl, it was clear that he was being cautious in his approach.

"Um… can I help you?" he asked cautiously as he watched them.

The girl ignored him for a moment as she turned to the other boy. "See Tucker, I told you he wasn't a ghost!"

"Oh yeah? I'm not too convinced of that. I've heard of legends were ghosts look so real that you can't tell they're not human," the boy, Tucker, said as he adjusted his glasses. He seemed to be examining him, which he found even more unnerving than the presence, which conveniently seemed to be gone. "Besides, how come the only place anyone's ever seen him is here?"

He glanced at the two strangers. Ghost? Him? What in the world where they talking about? "Excuse me," he interrupted irritably, "but am I missing something?"

The girl gave him an apologetic look. "Sorry about that. There's a rumor going around our school that a ghost has been seen here. They say that it's the ghost of a teenage boy with dark hair and light eyes. He's usually seen wearing jeans and a t-shirt."

"And, that fits you to a T, sorry to say," Tucker finished. It was clear that he was still not convinced that his status was that of 'among the living'.

"Tucker!" the girl snapped as she glared at him. "Just because you've never seen him before, it doesn't mean that he's a ghost!"

"Okay, Sam, than tell me why the only place he's been seen is in the graveyard. Or, better yet, why we found him here." Tucker's voice was almost as challenging. Almost. In truth, it seemed like he was hiding the fact that he was somewhat scared of the girl's temper.

"Can you stop treating me like I can't hear you?" he asked, not betraying the fact that he was somewhat amused by their argument. "Look, I am not a ghost. I've just gotten in the habit of taking walks here…" He frowned as he tried to find the right words to explain why. "It's…" he foundered for the word. "Peaceful… here…?" He wanted to kick himself. That sounded like he was so unsure of himself.

Tucker's eyes narrowed as he considered the answer. "Okay, if that's true, then why haven't I seen you before? You don't go to our school."

"Have you ever thought that maybe he just moved here and that his parents are setting all of that up?" Sam demanded.

"Parent," he corrected quietly, which caused both of them to stare at him, making him a bit nervous. "I only have one parent…"

"Right… So, did you just move here then?"

"No… From what I understand, we've been here since I was little. And," he added before Tucker could interrupt, "I've been home schooled the entire time."

"Okay, that's almost believable." He sighed as Tucker continued, "But that still doesn't explain why none of us have ever seen you before."

"It's not my fault that I have an over-protective parent! It's gotten so bad recently that I've practically had to sneak out of the house in order to get a change of scenery. Do you have any idea what it's like to stare at the same thing day after day with no real variety? It's boring!" He took a breath before he continued his tirade. "And, I'm sorry that you've never seen me before! It's not like I've been given the chance to get to actually introduce myself to anyone. In truth, I think that you two, people who thought I might be a ghost, are the first people my age I've spoken to for… Jeez, I don't even know how long. You might even be the first."

His expression was challenging as he waited for one of them to speak again. Although he was a bit angry, at the same time, he felt oddly relieved. It was nice being able to vent and have someone listen.

It was Sam who spoke first. "Wow, that's pretty rough…. Well, it won't solve your problems at home, but how about we show you around town? Oh, and by the way, I'm Sam." She nudged the boy beside her, "And this scaredy cat is Tucker."

"Sam! What are you doing? He's going to attack us… or something!"

"Tucker, will you give it a rest already?" She then rolled her eyes and held out her hand. "Well, are you interested?"

He looked at her hesitantly before he shook her hand. "I'm Danny… And, that sounds kinda nice. I'm already in trouble, so I might as well do it thoroughly." He was then distracted by Tucker, who seemed to be examining him closely. "What is your problem?"

"Y-you can actually touch her!" he stammered before he decided to touch Danny's arm.

"Uh, yeah. I thought that we had already established that I'm not a ghost."

Tucker nervously adjusted his glasses. "I was just trying to make sure. You can never be too careful." He tried to keep his embarrassment out of his voice by passing it off as if it was really nothing.

With a grin, Danny glanced over at Sam, "Do you think he's finally convinced?"

"No, but give him an hour." She seemed just as amused. "We should be able to get it through his thick skull by then."

"Hey! I resent that!"

"And what are you going to do about it, huh?" Although it was clear that Tucker had wanted to say something, he thought against it, which pleased Sam. "I thought so." She then grabbed hold of both of the boys and started dragging them towards the entrance. "Come on! We don't have all day!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Winston was really starting to get worried. He had already looked in Danny's normal haunt and found absolutely no sign of the boy. This was definitely not good. He couldn't contact the authorities to help find the boy for various reasons (first and for most was that Danny hadn't been missing for more than twenty-four hours), and he really didn't have anyone else that he could turn to for assistance.

He knew that the boy would probably come home on his own in a few hours, but he would rather know where he was. There was something about this particular day… a sort of uneasy feeling in the air. He really wasn't a person who believed in premonitions, but something told him that he should pay attention to this particular one.

As he hurried down one of the main streets, he thought about the situation at hand. Amity Park was supposedly safe from the kind of attacks that had cost Danny his parents, but after being in the service, he had learned that no place was completely safe. Could that thing really be in the area? No, that was a ridiculous thought. It hadn't been seen in years. Possibly someone had killed it by now….

He shook his head as he continued his trek, there were more concerning issues at hand, like trying to find that boy. Where the heck was he?

A familiar voice and figure distracted him from his thoughts. Winston had looked up just in time to watch his young charge round a corner. What was strange was that he was not alone. Unless he was mistaken, Danny was actually accompanied by someone. That was not good. What if he said something? That could put today's work out the window! Without a second thought he started sprinting after them.

Luckily for him, the kids had decided to stop for some reason about midway down the street. From a distance, it seemed like the two kids who were with them were pointing out something to him. Maybe they were just showing him around… He would have to get the full story from Danny later since it appeared that they were about to start moving again.

"DANIEL!" he shouted putting as much anger as he could muster while being winded into it. The shout had the desired effect as Danny turned around and stared at him with a classic 'deer in the headlights' look. He knew he was in trouble.

Thankfully, the kids did not decide to run as he approached him. Perhaps that was Danny's doing. "Young man, could you explain to me what you were thinking?" he demanded once he fully caught his breath. "You are supposed to be at home, and, yet, you're here. Care to explain?"

For a moment, Danny seemed absolutely lost for words, so he just floundered around for a moment. Surprisingly, the girl beside him answered for him. "He's been stuck at home! What do you expect him to do?" From her challenging tone, it was clear that she wasn't intimidated by him in the least.

"Sam, please, don't get involved," Danny told her while looking at the ground.

That comment just seemed to make her angrier. "Don't I? Danny, grow some backbone! You said earlier that you want to be out more! You have a right to be free! He can't take that away from you!"

"Actually, since I am his guardian, I have the full right to limit that freedom." Winston then sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. "Danny, we'll talk about this more when we get home. Let's head back."

"Oh, now you act all nice to him."

Danny then placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. Just let it drop. I'll… hopefully see you again." He then glanced over at the other boy who had decided to remain silent during this. "Do you still think I'm a ghost?"

The boy smiled at him. "Nah. You're just a guy who needs to work a little on his sex appeal, if you know what I mean."

"Really? And you can judge this how?"

The boy grinned arrogantly. "Don't you know who you're talking to? Tucker Foley. That's T.F. for too fine. All the ladies love me!"

Sam snickered. "Yeah, all the ones in your dreams."

"Hey!"

Danny just laughed as he watched the two of them continue. Winston was actually surprised by them. He was pretty sure that this was the first time that Danny had met either of them, but it seemed like they were already good friends. That was going to cause a little bit of a problem with the situation he had to face once he got Danny home, but he could probably work around that… somehow.

....................................................

Notes: This was inspired by the story, "Home is Where the Heart is" on ff.net, and the song "Say you'll haunt me," by Stone Sour.

This is a story that will not be written quickly. As of 11/13/20, 25 chapters were posted on FF.net and will be added to AO3. The muse for the story has always been finicky at best, making it difficult to write.

Winston Wolfe is the creation of my friend Hornswaggler. I have her permission to use him.


	2. Complications

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes freedom comes with drawbacks

"Daniel… May I come in?" Winston asked as he knocked on his charge's door about an hour after the two had returned home. He had sent the boy to his room as soon as they walked in for two separate reasons. The first was punishment; Danny had snuck out of the house after all. The second was that it would give Winston a little bit of time to gather his thoughts so that he could hopefully handle the situation.

A muffled reply answered him after a moment. It was probably a 'no', but that was pushed aside as he opened the door. He was a little surprised to see that the room was a mess; random items, mostly clothes, had been scattered, more likely thrown, around the room. The perpetrator was sitting on his bed and seemed rather angry that he had been interrupted. The boy had thrown a rather impressive tantrum, which was surprising, since Winston really hadn't heard anything. Perhaps he had been more distracted than he thought.

The older man sighed as he sat down on the bed while ignoring the glares that were being sent his way. "I know you're upset…" Well, that wasn't the best way to start things off.

The boy snorted. "Wow, aren't you perceptive."

Sarcasm, of course. Sometimes he swore that was the boy's native language, but he was going to have to ignore that at the moment, there were more important things at hand. "Could you please stop for just a moment and listen? You can cuss me out later." He hoped that his tone didn't have any anger (or much) in it, even if he had added an uncommon note of command.

Danny continued to glare at him, but he didn't say anything, which Winston took as a cue to continue. "I know that it's definitely hard for a boy your age to be kept in the house most of the time… However, we have a bit of a current situation…"

"Situation…?" the boy asked as he narrowed his eyes. "What kind?"

"It's not too bad…" Winston glanced upwards for a moment before he continued, a little surprised that he had the boy's attention. "…Hopefully…" There was a momentary pause before he continued. "I recently got a call from the state… From what I understand, some of the documents of your adoption have gone missing. They're going to be sending a case worker out to evaluate our current situation. If everything checks out, we'll be able to fix this and go on as if nothing happened…"

Danny was silent for a moment. His expression changed from that of skepticism to concern. "And what if this case worker guy doesn't like what he sees…?"

It was Winston's turn to look troubled. "Then it spells bad news for us. It could turn into a custody battle." He then reached over and placed his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Don't worry; I won't let it come to that. Can you promise me something though? Until this whole mess gets sorted out, can you please not sneak out of the house again?"

"What's that got to do with anything?"

Winston repressed the urge to roll his eyes. "Think about it for a moment. What happens if someone ends up calling the police because of… who knows? With what's going on right now, it could make this situation worse! I promised your parents that I'd take care of you, and I'll be damned if a stupid move on your part because of your 'rebellious phase' makes me break that."

"But what about Sam and Tucker? It's not like I can just disappear from them now, especially with how angry Sam was earlier."

What was it about teenagers that seemed to make them try and bring others into their arguments? However, this was something that he couldn't really ignore. Sure, he could tell Danny that he couldn't see them until after everything was situated with the state (or at all), but that would just backfire on him. Danny would become even more put out and probably sneak out again in spite. Or his anger could come across as something else when the case worker came, which would definitely not be good.

But that wasn't all that could go wrong. If he wasn't mistaken, that Sam girl was the daughter of the Mansons, a very powerful family with lots of connections. If she happened to say anything to them, it could cause them to get involved and launch their own investigation. The rumors around town said that she wasn't on the best of terms with them, but judging by how willful she seemed, she might actually use her power. That, by itself, could pose the biggest problem at the moment.

Instead of answering him immediately, Winston decided to ask a question of his own. "How are you sure you can trust them?" It definitely caught the boy off guard. He let him flounder around a bit before he decided to take the pressure away. "You just met them, so of course you really can't tell yet. …I guess that means that you'll just have to get to know them better." He thought about it a moment. "It's going to be fall soon, so they're probably back to school already. Thankfully, tomorrow's Sunday…"

"Wait… What did you say…?" Danny's eyes were wide with surprise and disbelief.

The expression was priceless which made it difficult for Winston to keep his tone even. "A boy your age should have friends. I'm still not very pleased that you snuck out again, but I think that I'll let it pass this time. We will have to work out times for you to go out, since I don't know when we're going to get that visit… but we can work on that tomorrow."

It was amazing what that simple statement did to the boy. It turned him from a brooding angsty… (was that the right word…? Was that even a word?) teenager to an overly thankful kid. He chuckled as he excited the room to allow Danny to revel in his victory.

With what the next few weeks were going to have in store for him, it was important that he at least had something good. When he had told Danny there was a situation, he hadn't lied… It was just that it was direr than he had mentioned. Winston only wished he knew how the state managed to find out. He knew that it had been a possibility… but after so many years, he thought it would no longer be a problem.

Then, there was the boy's birthday to consider. It was probably going to fall in the middle of all of this, which was definitely going to make the situation worse. And, if what he had been told was correct, then that date would add an entirely new dimension of problems.

He sighed as he massaged his temple. There was just so much that had to be kept secret, and it was all about to come out. Hopefully, Danny would find it in his heart to forgive him for all of the deception.

Eventually.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

There was no way that he had managed to be that lucky! Winston hadn't even grounded him! He was so happy that he was honestly thinking about shouting for joy, even if it really wasn't too dignified. There was only one problem with this…. How was he going to be able to contact Sam and Tucker again? It wasn't like he knew their numbers or even where they lived. Maybe it wasn't as good of a deal as he had originally thought.

He growled in frustration as he punched the wall. Winston had just humored him! He knew that he probably wasn't going to be able to see them again which was why he was so lenient! Danny wanted to kick himself for being so stupid. A pyrrhic victory, that's what this was.

The question now was what was he going to do about this? There was no way that he was going to let Winston get away with this. Who cared if that worker… or whatever… was coming? That was still a few weeks away. Or never... That whole story could have been created just to give him a reason to act better.

He glanced at the clock; it was nearly eight. Good! Winston had a habit of doing paper work from around that time to when he went to bed. He knew that the man did something for the school district but though he was not entirely sure of the specifics. Whatever it was, it definitely took a lot of time out of his day. When he was much younger, he used to hate that, but today, it was going to be a blessing.

About a half an hour later, after he was sure that Winston was occupied with his work, he snuck out of the house, via his window, for the second time that day. Once he made sure that he hadn't accidentally alerted his guardian, he immediately headed towards the graveyard. They had been there once…. Maybe they'd be there again.

…..

On second thought… maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

Usually, at least to him, the local graveyard was a rather peaceful place, but this time, it was anything but that. In the setting sun, the beautiful and watchful statues were now little more than leering and grotesques figures. There was also a strange, unnerving chill in the air that seemed to displace any sense of solace he might find. Something was definitely off. It was almost as if the uneasy feeling he had gotten earlier in the day had suddenly decided to multiply a thousand times. He knew it was probably safer to listen to his instinct and leave, but he wanted to be there in case they did come back.

A sudden rustling of leaves caught his attention, causing his eyes to narrow as he glanced around. There was no wind, and there did not seem to be any people in the area. It was most likely just an animal… Glancing over his shoulder, he decided to head back towards the entrance. If anything, Sam and Tucker would probably stay around that area.

He probably shouldn't wait much longer anyways; no more than another hour. Night had finally descended allowing the shadows to come out of hiding and dominate the world. There were few lights in the cemetery which allowed the darkness to feel more pressing. Most people would steer clear of such locations. It was safer that way since it was difficult to tell what could be lurking within the safety of the shadows.

Wait… Was there someone actually out there? He could have sworn that he heard something that sounded like quiet chuckling. Yet, after waiting a moment, there was no other sound. His nerves were starting to get to him. He knew this place. Nothing bad had ever happened. The sound had probably just carried from somewhere. Even so, it wouldn't hurt to move a little faster.

"Leaving so soon, boy…?"

He spun around and searched the area. There was no way that voice had carried; it sounded like it had come from somewhere nearby. "H-hello…?" he replied shakily. Who had called out to him? It sounded male… but it did not belong to anyone he knew. What made it worse was that it was difficult to pinpoint. It was almost as if it had come out of nowhere. "Is…. Is someone there…?"

Silence was the only response. "That's it… I'm losing my mind…" he told himself after a few long minutes. Once again, he scanned the area. He was about to start moving again when he caught movement at the edge of his vision. "What was that…?" Fear had begun to grip him. There was no way that was just a local animal. No, this was way too large. Whatever it was, it was probably not friendly.

Another noise broke into his train of thoughts. Without a second thought, he ran as fast as he could towards the other sound. His footfalls were heavy, a dead give away to whomever… whatever… was out there. Its shadow seemed to ghost in and out of his line of sight as he ran, almost as if to let him know that there was no way that he could ever outrun it. He could feel its amusement in its movements. This was nothing more than a game to it; a game that he could not win. Even if that was the case, he was going to do whatever it took to try.

His only hope was to try to get to his goal, the cemetery gates. He had thought that he had heard other people in that direction. His fiercely beating heart and spastic breathing made it difficult to concentrate on the voices, but they did seem like they were getting louder. He was getting closer! He needed to reach them! He had to reach them!

As he neared the gates, he saw two figures illuminated by one of the few cemetery lights. A boy and girl… Sam and Tucker! They had come after all! They looked somewhat weary… maybe they could actually hear him running. He called out, somehow, and they saw him.

There was only about a hundred more yards before he reached them and the edge of the light. He tried to push himself just a little more when his feet failed him. Ignoring the injuries from the paved walkway, he glanced backwards and tried to get up. It was still there! Its shadow was now in the trees.

"Danny! Are you okay?"

He jumped. The voice was right on top of him. He glanced back towards his new friends only to realize that they were within mere feet of him. When did they get so close? But he could not think about that now, he had made a horrible mistake! "You… got to… get out of here…!" It was hard to speak while he was so out of breath, but they had to be warned! They didn't know what was out there!

"Dude, what's wrong?" Tucker was clearly worried as he watched Sam help him up.

It was getting harder to breathe. His body was screaming for air causing the edges of his vision to darken. "It's… not safe…!" he tried to tell them between gasps. "Go…!"

"Danny, breathe!" Sam told him sharply, which he ignored as he glanced back in the direction of his pursuer. Worried, she took his face between her hands so that she could get him to look at her. "Calm down! What's wrong?"

Before he had a chance to speak, Tucker started to stammer. Both he and Sam looked over to see him pointing at something within the darkness. "Wh-what's that?"

He looked in the direction and saw two small lights of vivid crimson coming from the shadows. There was no movement for a moment before the lights seemed to narrow. The sight sent a chill down into his very core. They were eyes!

"So…You've found comfort in the arms of friends…" It was the same voice from earlier. Unlike before, when it seemed like it could have been coming from anywhere; it had a point of origin somewhere near the crimson orbs. "Enjoy it while it lasts…" The voice then laughed as it faded away, taking the lights with it.

When he finally could exhale, he collapsed on the ground. His body was absolutely drained from the combined strain of his fear and flight. Was that thing actually gone? It did not feel like it… However, that did not mean very much. It could still be there, just waiting in the shadows for them to turn their backs.

"W-what was that thing…? Why was it chasing you? What were those lights?" Tucker then paused for a moment after his spastic string of questions as he looked at him carefully. "…Why are you here anyways?"

He chuckled weakly as he allowed his friends to help him up. "I could ask you the same thing." A wary sigh escaped him as he nervously glanced into the shadows. "I was hoping that I'd be able to run into you guys again… And then that thing appeared…. I… I honestly have no idea what it was."

"Hate to interrupt," Sam told him in a tone that was oddly mixed with sarcasm and irritation as she pointed in the direction of where they had seen the odd lights. "But… newsflash: there's something out there that's unknown and potentially dangerous. We should probably get out of here before it decides to come back." There was a silent agreement before the three of them sprinted as far away from the graveyard as they could.

…

"So… now what?" Tucker asked as they caught their breaths on a lit street corner several blocks away from the cemetery gates. It didn't seem like they had been followed by whatever it was that they had seen, but there was still an uneasy feeling lurking in the air.

"You're asking me?" he replied in near disbelief as he leaned against the light pole. "I still can't stand without help, let alone think straight! Great…how am I going to be able to get home and sneak back into the house like this?"

His words were met with a disbelieving look. "Wait… You snuck out, again? Do you seriously hate your house that much?" Even though they had just been scared out of their minds, Tucker had managed to calm down enough to joke. He wasn't sure if he found that relieving or insulting. Before he could make up his mind, Sam knocked his beret off. "What was that for?"

"Tucker, this isn't the time!" She scowled at him for a moment before she glanced over at Danny. "But, that does bring up a good point… Do you think that you'll be able to meet us here tomorrow?"

"Sure… " he replied hesitantly, "…as long as I'm able to get back into the house without being caught. Why?"

A strange expression appeared on her face, making him uneasy. "I don't like being scared. So, I'm gonna find whoever that was and teach them a lesson, and you two are going to help me do it?"

He and Tucker shared a look before they both asked, "We're going to help you do what?"


	3. Worries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Searching for answers and the possible beginnings of something stranger happening

"Sam… can you run this by me again?" he asked as he stopped searching for a moment and glanced at her. "What exactly are we looking for?"

Her response was a roll of the eyes. "I thought we went over this already… Don't you want to know what we saw last night?"

"I don't!" Tucker voiced, causing the two of them to look at him. "What? That thing was scary! For all we know, it could still be out here, and I for one, have no desire to see it again!"

"Why, aren't we brave?" The sarcasm in Sam's voice spoke volumes. In an almost immediate response, Tucker covered his head with his arms. Apparently, that tone was a verbal warning of the threat of pain. Sam could apparently be rather scary when she felt like it.

"Hey! Don't get mad at me! I just want to keep my good looks safe for the ladies! Besides, you're the one with the grudge!"

That answer just seemed to anger Sam more. "How selfish can you get? You don't even care that other people could be in danger?" Though it was true that she had sworn her vengeance on whatever they had seen, rational seemed to have come back to her in the hours after the chase. She currently just wanted to know who or what that was.

"I do… except, in my book, I come first! Besides, shouldn't this be a job for the police instead?"

"Like they're going to believe a couple of kids. We'll probably be the ones to get in trouble if we say anything. They only take it seriously if we find some kind of proof."

Danny stayed silent as he watched their fight continue. Sam did have a point; whatever it was that they had seen the night before could potentially be dangerous to anyone in the area. It also seemed unlikely that the police would believe them, since they would probably just pass it off as some kind of animal, which it definitely was not! However, he sided more with Tucker. If it wasn't for Sam's persuasiveness (aka threats), there was no way that he would have come back to the cemetery for quite some time.

He glanced around the familiar surroundings and shivered slightly. It was only about one in the afternoon, but it felt like it was much later. The shadows appeared more pronounced, the statues looked corrupted, and the air seemed stale and heavy. It was almost as if that thing's presence had managed to taint the area.

Even though he really did not believe in the so-called paranormal, there was definitely something demonic about that creature. That thought caused him to sigh. He was being silly. There was probably a very logical explanation for what he and his friends had seen. It was probably just some drifter or psychopath… which is just as comforting.

In truth, he would rather just forget about the incident and chalk it up as a bizarre situation that he never wanted to ever deal with again. He had also made a promise to himself to never again sneak out of his house at night; being scared half to death was so not worth it. However, he had this sinking suspicion that Sam was going to make him break that. Speaking of which…

"What…?" he asked after he realized that she had asked him something. "Sorry, I wasn't listening."

"Jeez, Danny, get your head out of the clouds." Judging by her expression and the fact that Tucker was hiding rather poorly behind a nearby bush, they had stopped arguing for the time being. "I just wanted to know if you had managed to get home okay last night. I mean, you didn't get in trouble or anything, did you? I kinda forgot to ask earlier."

He frowned for a moment. "Surprisingly… no," he replied before giving them a sheepish grin. "I… uh… fell when I snuck back through my window. If you haven't already noticed, I'm kinda klutzy. Winston's use to that, but it's a little weird for me to fall at night. If he did wake up, I guess he assumed I fell off the bed again."

Sam shook her head. "Again…?"

"I don't do it often!" he replied in an embarrassed protest. "Just a couple times a year!"

"And that makes it so much better."

"Um, I don't mean to pry or anything," Tucker interrupted as he came over. Apparently, he now thought it was safe for him to come out of hiding, though he did make sure that he was out of Sam's punching range. "But, why do you call your dad by his first name?"

That question earned another sheepish look. "Well… um… I'm actually adopted. Winston's been my guardian for as long as I can remember. Apparently, my parents had asked him to take care of me if anything would happen to them…" He sounded wistful for a moment before he sat down on a nearby bench. Raising his head, he glanced at them while wearing an expression that was unreadable. "I… I really don't know what happened to them. Winston's not very comfortable with the topic."

After a small pause, Sam glared at Tucker, who cringed. "Tucker! How could you bring that up?" she demanded as she moved closer to him.

"Sorry!" He immediately backed away from her as he raised his hands again. "I didn't know!"

That caused Danny to chuckle, which caused both of them to look at him. "It's okay, really! I don't mind. Let's just go back to searching before Tucker gets hurt."

"Tucker likes that idea!"

Sam glared at the nervous boy for a moment before poked him in the chest, "Fine, but this doesn't mean that you're off the hook."

….

"Sam!" Tucker whined about an hour later. "Let's call it a day! We haven't found anything! And besides, we promised Danny yesterday that we'd show him around."

Once again, Danny agreed with him. There were definitely less boring activities than failing miserably at finding anything. They had found nothing! It was as if there was absolutely nothing to even suggest that there had even been something other than him in this part of the graveyard within the last day. It was definitely frustrating since there was a small part of him that did want proof that he hadn't just imagined last night. Even if Sam and Tucker had seen it, maybe it had been some weird group hallucination. He had heard those were possible.

Sam glanced around again and gave a frustrated huff before she kicked the ground. "I guess you're right… even if I don't want you to be. I guess we should lea… Hey, what's that?" She pointed at something before she sprinted over to whatever it was that she had seen.

He and Tucker shared a look before they followed her. By the time they had reached her, she had picked up what appeared to be a piece of paper and was examining it. Apparently, it contained either an image or word that was holding her interest.

"Um… Sam… what… oomf!" Danny's words were cut off when Sam shoved the paper into his hands. "What the heck?"

She glared at him while she impatiently tapped her foot. "Just look at it!"

After giving her a look, he complied. At first, the only thing that caught his attention was that he was holding a rather old piece of paper. That normally would not be too weird since littering was unfortunately common, but this paper wasn't just weathered, but it also had a strange feel as if it was more along the lines of canvas than actual paper. He then noticed that there were black marks on it, which he realized was a sketch of what appeared to be some sort of figure.

He turned the paper a bit to see if he could get a better feel for the picture. It appeared to be an ink sketch of what he took to be a demonic figure with… possibly flaming hair. After a moment, he also realized that there seemed to be writing on the top of the paper, but the letters were too faded for him to make out.

"So… what do you think?" Sam asked after he had handed the paper to Tucker.

"Not much," he replied with a shrug. "Sure, it's creepy enough, but I don't think it's related to this. Papers find their way here all the time. Possibly someone lost it out of their sketchbook a while back."

She just shook her head. "Danny, I tend to do a bit of sketching myself… That's not a type of paper, if it is paper, that you commonly use. In fact, I'm fairly certain that I've never seen it before."

"Sam, you're probably over thinking things. I really don't think that it's anything out of the ordinary," Tucker told her as he gave it back to her. He then glanced at Danny and grinned. "Although Sam's usually pretty level-headed, she sometimes lets her love of anything weird run away with her."

"Take that back!"

"In this case, I don't think I will."

"Would you still say that if you weren't standing behind me?" Danny asked as he tried to turn to get a look at his friend.

Tucker gave him a serious look. "Dude, have you seen her boots? They hurt! Oh… alright." After receiving another glare, he gave up on hiding and looked over at the still irritated goth. "If it will make you happy, I'll try to find some information on it when I get home. Though, to be absolutely honest, I'm fairly certain that picture's nothing more than the product of someone's deranged… oh, I mean artistic… mind."

Try as she might, Sam couldn't resist chuckling at his comment. "Thanks. If anyone could find something, it would be you."

"I'm glad you noticed."

"Sure, I noticed. It's your only redeeming quality."

"Hey!"

"Sorry to interrupt another one of your fights," he told them as he raised an eyebrow. Their "play" arguments were throwing him for a loop. How was it possible they were still friends if that happened as commonly as it seemed? "But, am I missing something?"

Sam laughed as she waved him off with her hand. "Don't mind us. Both of us keep forgetting that you don't know any of this yet. Although he might not look like it, Tucker's amazing with technology. I swear that he could honestly bring down a satellite with that PDA of his." She then glanced over at the boy who had brought out said PDA and had begun checking it in a strangely loving fashion. "I'm actually surprised that he didn't mention it yesterday. Perhaps he was trying not to scare you way."

After a moment she placed her hand on his shoulder. "Come on! We should leave now before he starts trying to induct you into his technologic world…"

xxxxx

The door slammed which let him know that his charge was finally home. If it was any other day, he would have actually gone to greet the boy, but this was not the case. He was currently stuck on the phone listening to someone who was irritating him more and more with each passing second. Even though he was usually a patient man, it was taking all of his self control to not raise his voice at her.

"Ma'am, I understand the consequences," he told the voice on the phone tiredly as he tried to wrap up the conversation, "But I assure you, that not only am I acting on his parents' wishes, but that I am also taking very good care of him."

What the woman said next absolutely enraged him. "That remains to be seen!" was his indigent reply. "Please reserve your judgments until you or one of your people come to do that review. Now, have a good day." The woman had tried to respond, but he cut her off by slamming the phone. Those people were so tiring, but that one really knew what to say to get under his skin.

"Uh… is everything okay in here…?" Danny asked carefully as he appeared in the kitchen. His expression clearly said that he hoped that he was not in trouble.

Winston sighed and ran his hand through his hair as he sat down. "It's really nothing too important, just another call from the state. Apparently, they're now attempting to use scare tactics." He then looked at the boy and tried to smile, "So, how was your day?"

Danny shrugged as he too grabbed a seat. "Sam and Tucker showed me around town some more, and we hit the arcade for a bit before Tucker had to head home. We're going to try to get together again in a couple days."

"That's good…"

"Um… are you sure you're okay?"

He sighed as he looked up at the boy who seemed worried about the absent-minded response he had recieved. "Yeah… I guess I let them get to me more than I had thought. Anyways, how does pizza sound for dinner?"

"That sounds great!" Danny then got up and headed towards the hall. "I'm going to be in my room for a while."

"That's fine." Winston then got up and picked up the phone again. After calling the pizza place, he headed into the study and tried to relax.

Why was in the world was that man getting involved in this? He had heard the rumors that the man had begun to involve certain aspects of his many companies in some of the state cases, but until that call he did not believe that they were actually true. Due to the money that those companies held, it was going to much more difficult than he had originally thought to keep Danny. Not only that, but the head of those companies, Vlad Masters himself, had personally become interested.

According to that woman, he claimed to be a friend of Danny's parents. If that was the case, why didn't they ask him to take the boy? But, that was beside the point. Even though the man was well-respected, there was something that just did not sit right with Winston. Sure, he might be a business genius, but he had gained way too much power too quickly. There were rumors that those gains had not been made above the table, and Winston believed that they were true.

It was also known that the man was not above using underhanded tactics in court. If this case did end up going that far… there was no telling what that man might reveal. Danny's story was complicated, and even though he had done what was asked of him, it was unlikely that a jury would see it the same way, especially with how unbelievable the story really was. Most likely, Masters would corrupt the tale, making it even worse.

Then there was Danny to think about. While it's true that he had not be entirely forthcoming with what had actually happened, he had planned on revealing everything on his upcoming birthday. However, with the current mess, he was unsure what precisely to do. If he was to wait and the boy was told a corrupted story, it would most likely shatter his world. He could not let that happen, but he did not want to add stress to him, especially since there had been no indication it was true…

A sudden crash followed by a yell immediately got him out of his seat. That was….? What was that? He stood still for a moment trying to figure out from where the noise had originated when he realized that had been Danny's voice. Sure, the boy did have a tendency to trip, but there was no way that was normal.

He immediately ran to boy's room and opened the door. "Danny! Are you all right? I heard a crash!" He looked around expecting the boy to be near his chair or bed, but instead he was on the floor, plastered against the wall. His piercing blue eyes were wide and frightened.

Worried, he kneeled beside the boy, placed his hand on the boy's shoulder, and gently shook him. Unfortunately, he still did not get a response as Danny was still staring at something. His military instincts kicked in, causing him to tense and glance around the room looking for anything that was out of place. After a moment, he realized that nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but he still kept himself prepared potential surprise.

"Danny…" he whispered harshly to his charge as he continued to watch, "what happened?"

There was no sound until he heard Danny take a deep breath and move. He looked back to see the boy leaning his head against the wall. His breathing was still heavy, but it looked like the worst of the shock of whatever had happened was beginning to wear off. "Are you okay?" he asked cautiously as he glanced around again.

"Huh…?" the boy's voice was startled. Had he only just realized that he had come into the room? "Wh-what's going on?"

"Are you hurt?" he asked as he knelt down again. "Did something happen? Did you see something weird?"

At the last question, his charge tensed and glanced at his hand as if he was examining it. After a moment, he hesitantly looked back at him and shook his head. "I… I'm fine, but what's with the twenty questions?"

He raised an eyebrow at the boy. "Really? Daniel, I heard a crash and a yell from you. I was worried," he told him as he helped him to his feet. "Are you sure everything's okay?"

This time, he was answered with a nod. "I'm fine… I just … fell off the chair... and managed to knock some of the stuff off my desk…" Danny cringed slightly when he realized how weak sounding his excuse was. He then became more animated and began to push the older man towards the door. "I promise! I'm perfectly fine! N-nothing's wrong! Just give me a few minutes to clean up everything, and I'll be right out! The pizza's supposed to be here shortly, right?"

Before Winston even had a chance to attempt to get a word in, Danny shoved him out of the room and slammed to door. He remained there, a little stunned for a few moments. Whatever had happened definitely spooked the boy, it was probably nothing like he had said… but he could not help but wonder. A normal fall like that should not be so frightening.

He took another glance at the door before he headed back into the kitchen. Maybe he should watch the boy a little more closely, just in case.


	4. Paper Trails

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The wheels of fate begin to turn, and the one pulling strings finally shows himself

Is it possible to truly call the mess someone creates in a desperate search for an object a natural disaster? If so, his study had come as close to the definition as humanly possible; books had been torn off their shelves, drawers had been removed and dumped on the floor, decorative items had been thrown haphazardly around the room and he was seriously debating on whether or not he should attempt to lift the furniture. He had, after all, already knocked over one of the end tables.

He just didn't understand it. The one time he needed that letter, it was absolutely nowhere to be found! But, that was what made it so strange… Unless he needed it, he kept it within a metal box that sat in the bottom drawer of his desk, right now, even the box was missing! How was he going to prove he had a valid claim to the issue at hand without it?

A noise took his thoughts away from his search. He glanced up to see Danny standing in the doorway, giving him a worried glance. "Uh… Winston, are you alright?" he asked cautiously as he carefully came in the room a few steps. "And you say my room's a mess…"

A sheepish grin crossed his face as he picked up his chair. "I'm fine… I'm just trying to find a paper I need for a meeting later tonight."

"Do… you need any help?"

"No, not really… I should be fine on my own." He then glanced at his young charge, who seemed to relax at the statement. He was confused for a moment until he realized the boy kept glancing at the clock that somehow still managed to be in its place on the wall. "That's right; you're going out today…"

Danny nodded as a relieved expression appeared on his face. "Yeah, I'm supposed to meet Sam and Tucker soon."

"Be careful, alright?"

"I know, I know…"

He sighed as he carefully stepped over his mess so he could put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "I can't help that I'm worried, especially after what happened on Sunday…"

At that statement, the boy violently knocked away his guardian's hand. "Nothing happened!" he nearly shouted. "How many times do I have to say that to you?"

Danny glared at him as he tried to figure out how to defuse the situation. Even though Danny denied anything happened, the actual problem was obviously something had. Winston knew Danny had experienced real fear on Sunday and whatever it was, it had to have been traumatic, or else his constant denials wouldn't make much sense. It worried him. What could possibly have scared the boy so much in his own home?

Something else bothering him was the fact Danny had gotten violently ill shortly after dinner that night. Although, it could have just been a delayed response (to the fear but), it really had seemed… well, almost random. The boy was shaking severely once he had gotten control of his stomach, and he seemed unusually cold to the touch. Now that he actually thought about it more, the shaking might have been actual shivers from being cold. That definitely wasn't normal, and if it wasn't for the fact that he had felt better the next morning, Winston would have taken him to the doctor's, which was something he tried to avoid.

"Danny…" he said slowly. Within how tense the boy was, he knew he had to be careful with his words. It would not help either of them if he unintentionally pushed him away. "All I'm asking is that you take it easy today. You might be fine, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm worried about you."

"Whatever," he huffed as he turned back towards the door. Although it wasn't the best response, it told him that, thankfully, there was no added stress to the shaky situation. "I have to get going."

Winston smiled as he turned back to the warzone that was formally his desk. "One thing before you go," he added as an afterthought. "I might not be home when you come back tonight. If you're not feeling well, don't hesitate to come back here. And, as long as you leave this room alone, you can bring your friends in if you like."

That caught the boy's attention. "Really?"

"Really. Have fun. I have to get back to this… uh, search…" A frown crossed his features as he glanced down at the mess. Again, how could a heavy metal box go missing?

He barely heard Danny's reply as he tried to figure out where he should search next. Time was running out, and there was still no sign of it. But, trying to search on sheer panic without a plan was not doing him any good. Although he did not want to, he decided to give himself a few moments to reorganize his thoughts.

The obvious place to restart was the desk, where it should have been in the first place. There had to be some sort of clue to what happened to it in there. Yet, as he looked, he happened to notice a folded piece of paper around the same area where the box had been. It was odd because he rarely, if ever, folded any of his paperwork, especially anything placed in that desk. What was even stranger was the fact it had his name written on it, almost like it was a letter. Curious, he opened it.

….

Time just seemed to stand still as he just stared at the letter. It… it had to be some type of sick joke! There was no way that that thing could possibly be in town, let alone have found a way into the house. He had kept track of reports from their previous hometown, and no one had seen it for years! There weren't even any reports from neighboring locations. It just disappeared after it had destroyed everything.

But, if it was in town, why was it here? Why was it targeting him? Wait… When it had first attacked all those years ago, it seemed to have a specific target… But, weren't they dead? Could it now be after…? "Oh, no…!" he whispered as he got up and sprinted towards the front door. "Danny!" he shouted as he tried to find some sort of evidence he was still in the house, but there wasn't any.

A glance at the clock told him that it had been some time since he had last spoken to the boy. How did he loose that much time? Even though Danny was probably nowhere nearby, he threw open the front door and tried calling for the boy again anyways. There was no answer, but that did not mean much. Danny was probably fine, but oblivious to the danger that had reemerged. It wasn't his fault either, Winston hadn't wanted to say anything about it until his upcoming birthday, but he was seriously regretting that decision now. That thing… that monster could be stalking its prey at the moment.

Without a second though, he grabbed his keys and hurried to his car. Sure, there was that meeting he needed to attend, but that was going to have to be rescheduled. Danny's safety was far more important to him than trying to prove to a bunch of busybodies he had a right to take care of the boy.

And in truth, he wasn't too sure what he was going to when he finally managed to find Danny. Was he going to tell the boy what was wrong? Or, was, again, going to leave crucial information out? He would decide that later. Right now, his major concern was to just to make sure he was still okay.

xxxxxxx

"Uh… Dude, are you sure you're okay?" Tucker asked as he watched him finish his second pop in less than five minutes.

He gave his friend a sheepish grin as he debated on whether or not he was going to need another refill. "Yeah… as soon… as I can completely… catch my breath." Although he knew it was probably among the stupidest things he could have done, he ran all the way from his home to the Nasty Burger, which Tucker had promised tasted a lot better than it sounded. His little chat with Winston had taken surprisingly longer than he thought it would, which didn't help the fact he was already running late.

A chuckle from Sam caught his attention. "This wouldn't happen if you were in better shape…" Even if she was poking fun at him in a friendly way, the comment still got under his nerves a little. Sure, he wasn't the most muscular of people, but he certainly wasn't fat. So, instead of trying to say anything back to her, he decided to take the moment to get another refill.

"So, ignoring my problems," Danny told them a few minutes later as he sat back down. "Did you guys actually find out anything?"

"Surprisingly, I did… and I'm not too sure that it's a good thing. Here, take a look."

Ignoring the fact it seemed that Tucker's pockets held their own separate dimension since there was no way they were big enough to completely hold his PDA and his other gadgets, he glanced at the article currently on the machine's screen. Though it wasn't a very large article, the content seemed to be rather troubling. "Wh-what is this?" His voice was quiet as he looked at both of his friends for some sort of answer.

"Right now, I'm not too sure," Tucker replied as he took back his PDA. "There's really not much information on it, but from what I can tell, that picture is very similar to a series of sketches drawn a few hundred years ago. But the thing is, they were all drawn for (or by) this cult that seemed to worship demons."

He could feel his eyes widen in disbelief. "You… You're not serious, are you?"

"Unfortunately, that's not the worst of it," Sam continued as Tucker nodded solemnly. "It's a little obscure, but apparently that group was trying to create a specific demon-the one depicted on the drawing we found. There were really no details on how they planned on doing that, thank goodness, but there was some reference that it deals with some sort of curse…."

Now, that made him laugh, which caused his friends to stare at him. "A curse?" he asked as he calmed down a bit. "Don't you think that's a little much? You actually had me going for a bit."

"Danny, this isn't a laughing matter!" Sam nearly yelled as Tucker tried to keep her from standing up. "Whether or not this story is true is not the actual problem. The problem is we found something tied to a potentially dangerous occult belief right after you were chased by… whatever that thing was! Don't you see some sort of connection here?"

He snorted. "Sam, do you really think that whoever that guy was belongs to this cult and wanted to sacrifice me or something? Hasn't that sort of thing been proven to be nothing but an urban legend? Besides, finding that paper was probably nothing but a coincidence."

"Actually, I'm not too sure it is." Tucker's voice brought both he and Sam away from the staring match that had begun after he had finished speaking. "I mean, the information on that picture was hard to find, so I don't really think too many people would know about it."

"But, couldn't someone have just drawn that picture without really knowing about that story? Plenty of people are interested in the occult and other spooky stuff, so there's no telling what one of them might have come up with."

"I'd actually side with you, if it wasn't for the type of paper that it's on."

"What do you mean?"

Sam sighed rather impatiently. "Don't you remember what I said when we found it? Like it felt more like canvas? Well, I actually took it down to one of the art supply stores I occasionally go to hoping that they might have some idea what it was, but they didn't know! They told me that it didn't look like anything they had seen before… well, until the one said that it somewhat reminded him of animal leather, which really freaked me out. How could someone do that to an animal?"

From there, she quickly began to rant about animal cruelty until Tucker interrupted her by calling her name. After a moment, she realized what she was doing and adopted a sheepish expression. "Anyway," she continued, "the point here is that it's highly unlikely many people would be able to get their hands on that type of material, and since it did seem really old, maybe we do have something here."

Danny crossed his arms as he considered her words. "So, if there is a connection here, what do you suppose we do?" It wasn't really like he was completely convinced about this whole 'occult' story, but he was certain that there was some sort of deranged freak stalking his favorite haunt. That by itself was a cause for alarm.

"We could go to the police…"

"Please, Sam, If we go up to an officer and say 'Hey, when we were in the cemetery at night, we were chased by this creepy thing that we think belongs to a demon-worshiping cult', he'll probably either laugh at us or check us for drug possession."

"It was just a suggestion, and I don't see you coming up with anything better!"

"Calm down! Do you want to draw attention to us?" Tucker warned them as he carefully glanced around the building. That act caused him to look around too, and indeed, there were a few people that had decided to look their way.

It really was the first time he had paid attention to the other people in the restaurant. Surprisingly, there were a lot of other teenagers there, and he guessed that the majority of them went to the same school as Sam and Tucker. For a moment, he felt a bit of jealousy towards them. For practically his entire life, he had been kept away from the world, and now that he could finally touch its fringes, he felt himself wanting more of it. In truth, he just didn't understand why his friends talked so badly about it.

Though he could probably ponder about it more, he pulled himself back into the argument that had now started between Sam and Tucker that did not seem to do anything with the unknown madman who was starting to make president in their lives.

xxxxxxxx

It was starting to grow dark, and Winston still had absolutely no idea where Danny could be. It was probably his fault, since until this particular moment; he hadn't seen the point of giving the boy anything like a cell phone. And, it didn't really help that part of his attention was drawn away by a rather annoying social worker that could not seem to understand he was trying to reschedule his appointment.

"For the last time, I will gladly reschedule for next week," he told the woman as civilly as he could. He knew that driving while speaking on his cell was not a smart move on his part, but he could honestly care less. Trying to find Danny was way more important than obeying any laws. "But, Ma'am, I was just alerted to a family emergency. Right now, that is more important to me than this meeting. Tomorrow, or even later tonight, if you want, I'll call you to fill you in on the situation, but right now, I need to go. Have a good night."

The tone in his voice seemed to finally get through to the woman, and she did agree that he could call later. Happy to finally be off the phone with her, he glanced down for a moment to slide his phone into a cup holder so that he could easily grab it later. When he looked back up, he immediately slammed on his breaks and turned the wheel.

His breathing was heavy as his car came to a stop. Thankful that there were no other vehicles on the street, he glanced over to see what the damage might be. Yet… there was nothing there! Confused, he got out of his car so that he could better survey the location.

It was so strange. He could have sworn that he had seen some sort of figure standing out in the road, but as he looked, there was absolutely no sign of any living thing. Even the buildings that were around him were broken down and empty. Now that he thought about it, how did he even get into this part of town? He didn't remember coming here… and it was unlikely that Danny would be in the area, especially if he was with friends…

A chill suddenly ran down his back, and he knew he was being watched. Now aware he was in an incredibly open position, he moved closer to his car. The most logical thing to do would be to get back into his car, quickly leave the area, and go back to his search, but something told him that whatever was watching him would not let him escape so easily.

"It's been a long time, hasn't it?" a civilized voice asked in a way that made his blood run cold. He knew that voice; there was no way that he would ever have been able to forget it. Even though he didn't have to look to know it was there, but he did anyway. It would have made him face it eventually, so there was no use in trying to avoid it.

On a first glance, the average person would probably describe the figure floating above him as a vampire, and although there was a similarity, it was a wrong assumption. In fact, the creature was something anyone would never expect to be solid, appear in the daylight (even if it was fading), or even have the ability to hurt someone. It was a ghost.

...........................................

Notes:   
1) Pop = soda. I am from south-western Pennsylvania, and we tend to say 'pop'. This might come up again, so I just wanted to put that translation out there.

2) When Danny says that sacrificial cults are an urban legend, that's supposedly true. According to US criminal history, while there have been murderous cults, there is no evidence of any sacrificial murders related to cults. Whether that's true or not, is up to debate, but that's the official standpoint in the US.


	5. Unexpected Meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which an intruder decides breaking and entering isn't a legal issue

Something didn't feel right. Winston never left the front door open or even unlocked when he was home let alone when he was out. Danny, hesitantly followed by his two friends, cautiously entered the house hoping nothing was wrong.

He peaked into the study where he had last seen his guardian, and although it still looked like a tornado had gone through it, no one was there. That, combined with the fact that the car was missing, told him that Winston had left the house in a hurry. It was possible that he had just gone to the meeting and locking the door slipped his mind, but he had never known Winston to ever do that; he was too cautious.

"Danny… did you find anything?" Tucker asked cautiously as he and Sam came to the door. "Whoa, what happened to this room?"

Danny looked back at his friends for a moment as he tried to step over the mess. "He was looking for something that I assume was pretty important when I left. Hold on a sec," he requested as he looked for a safe place to step, "he doesn't want people in here."

"Really?" Sam asked in an irritated tone.

"Hey, it was the only condition he had if I invited you over."

"You're concerned that something might have happened to Winston, yet you worry about that. It seems to me that you need to get your priorities in order."

He just shrugged as he continued to carefully make his way through the study. Everything looked practically the same, save for the mess, except for the random paper and an envelope that seemed really out of place on the desk. Curious, he grabbed them and made his way over towards the door.

"Wh-what is it?" Tucker asked after he showed them what he found.

"Letters…. I think," he replied as he got a better look at them. He was just about to open them when something fell in the kitchen. The three friends looked at each other for a moment before they started to creep towards the source of the noise.

When they rounded the corner, they saw a man mumbling to himself while picking up what appeared to be a cup. At first, he thought he could be a robber, but the more he looked at the man, the more he thought that was impossible. This man appeared to be around Winston's age and was wearing a suit. Unless this person was crazy, it seemed very unlikely that he was a robber.

"Hey!" he called out as he ignored his friends' warnings, which caused the unknown man to jump. He quickly regained himself. "I don't know who you are, but don't you know that breaking and entering is illegal?"

The man smiled in a manner which caused Danny to involuntarily shudder. There was something off about his expression. "I think that the term you want is unlawful entry, but it amounts to the same thing, I suppose," the man told him in a rather carefree manner. "Yet, I could say the same thing to you."

"Yeah, but I live here. You don't."

The man's eyes lit up for a moment with… hunger…? … which was almost instantly replaced with a more neutral expression. "Would that make you young Daniel then?"

"And, what if he is?" Sam asked, startling both of them as she and Tucker moved behind their friend.

The man examined the newcomers for a moment before he slapped himself in the forehead rather dramatically. "Oh dear me, where are my manners? I'm Vladimir Masters, and after your guardian called to reschedule his meeting due to an 'emergency', I was sent to make sure that everything was okay here. And, needless to say, that when I saw that the door was open, I was concerned and decided to take a look." He then raised an eyebrow after giving a quick look around. "Yet, I'm surprised to see that you're here without Mr. Wolfe."

"Wh-what do you mean 'emergency'?" he stuttered after the man had finished. "Everything was fine before I left…"

Before an answer could be given, Tucker gently pushed Danny back and glared at the older man. "I think a better question is: what is Vlad Masters, a billionaire and famous businessman, doing here?"

"He's what?" both Danny and Sam demanded at the same time.

Tucker looked at them in a rather surprised manner. "You seriously don't know? He's one of the most famous people in the world and one of the richest."

The three of them glanced back at the man, who was trying not to look too pleased with himself. "Ah, apparently I've made more of an impression on the world than I thought I did," he told them in an attempt to sound modest. "But, to answer your question, one of my companies is involved with custody battles, so I do hear about situations like this. While it's true that I usually don't personally get involved, your case, Daniel, interests me."

His eyes narrowed as he listened to the man. Something was feeling more off by the moment. "Why me?" he demanded. "What's so special about me that someone like you came here?"

Vlad's eyes widened in feigned shock at his words. "Surely, my boy, Winston would have said something about me to you. I mean, I was a good friend of your parents."

"Wait… you knew my parents?"

"Of course! We met each other in college and remained good friends afterwards. It was such a shame when I found out about their disappearance…" He paused for a moment and looked at the boy with a strange expression that he really didn't like. "In truth, if things would have gone the way that your parents had wanted, I would have become your legal guardian."

He would have become what? Danny was absolutely certain his parents, even if he didn't remember them, would never let him go with someone so creepy. Although his story sounded believable, there was something that he wasn't saying about the situation, and whatever this 'something' was, he was fairly certain he didn't want to hear it.

"Back up," Sam demanded of Vlad. "It almost sounds like your accusing Mr. Wolfe of illegally taking care of Danny."

"Is that what it sounds like?" Vlad asked her. Unlike the previous times he spoke, his voice dropped the pleasant tone he was using. "It would be a lie to say that I'm not displeased about how things have turned out, however as much as I hate to admit it, there is validity in his claim. If it wasn't for that blasted letter, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

HIs grip on the papers in his hand tightened. "What do you mean? What letter?"

Once again, Vlad gave the boy an appraising glance. "Apparently, he hasn't told you anything. No matter, within a couple weeks, it should be made clear, even if he still decides to keep you blissfully ignorant." He then glanced at his watch and sighed. "It looks like I've stayed here longer than I planned. I will call your guardian later tonight to see if the emergency, which you clearly have no knowledge of, has been solved." A nod of his head was all that he gave as a farewell before he exited the house.

…

"Well… that was certainly weird…" Tucker stated after Danny had made sure that the front door was locked and that Vlad was nowhere to be seen. "Is everything okay? And what was he talking about when he mentioned the 'custody battle'?"

He sighed as he walked into the family room and sat down on the couch. His friends followed him as they exchanged worried expressions. "He… Winston… told me that the state had lost some of my adoption papers," he said as he absentmindedly looked at the papers in his hands. "He had said that it wasn't that big of a deal even though the state would be coming to pay a visit. Yet… it suddenly sounds like it's so much more complicated…"

Sam gently touched his shoulder as she sat next to him, "It'll be okay. And, if worst comes to worst, I'll try to convince my parents to hire someone to defend you in court. Now that I think about it, they've mentioned that man before, and they really don't like him. If my dad won't do it for the 'good of the cause', he'll certainly do it to get back at Mr. Masters."

"Do… do you really mean that?" He gently smiled as she vehemently agreed. "Thanks, Sam."

Tucker coughed, which caused them to look at him rather awkwardly. "Sorry to interrupt your moment," he told them as he also sat down, "But I have another question, and it's really bothering me. When he said that Mr. Wolfe was keeping you 'blissfully ignorant' do you think that he meant the legal stuff or something else? 'Cause, I honestly think it was the 'something else'."

"You know, I've been wondering that too…" Sam agreed. "A lot of what he said made me think that he was referring to something that was more complicated than just a custody battle."

"And that's not complicated at all," he told her with the most sarcastic tone that he could muster.

She just rolled her eyes. "You know what I meant. It's like he has ulterior motives for not only visiting your house but for being involved in the legal stuff too."

He sighed as he tried to get make sense of the strange visit. For some strange reason, it just seemed like within a couple weeks his entire world decided to become a complicated mess, not even counting the paranormal events. Speaking of which… He glanced down at his hand that had begun to feel a bit weird. It was that same feeling that had occurred before that event.

Worried, he quickly excused himself and ran to the bathroom. As he tried to lock the door, his hand passed right through the doorknob. No… it couldn't be! He stumbled backwards, hoping that he could back away from whatever was causing the problem, but it was to no avail.

Fear gripped him as he slid down the wall and stared at his hand. It was exactly how it looked the other day: a pale shadow of its former self. The only difference was this time was that part of his forearm was affected too. There was no way that he could pass it off as a dream this time either. What was he going to do about this? Heck, he didn't even know what this was!

"Danny?" a voice called out after knocking on the door. It was Sam, and from what it sounded like, she was worried. Had he really be in here that long?

"Crap!" he whispered to himself as he stood up. The door wasn't locked, and there was no way that he was going to let either of his friends see what was happening. Yet, luck didn't seem to be on his side seeing as he fell before he could cross the small room.

"Danny?" Sam asked again. "Are you okay in there?"

"I'm f-fine!" he answered as he tried to stand, only to no avail. A glance at his legs told him why: the one had somehow managed to sink into the floor. "Okay… and now everything's ten times worse… Come on!" He tried pulling on his leg only to find that it was stuck. It just had to be a joke. There was no way that all of this was happening to him: it was just impossible.

"Sam, you can't go in there!" he heard Tucker warn their friend as the doorknob jiggled.

"Bite me!" she snapped back as the doorknob turned and the door opened.

For a moment, nothing was said as the three friends looked at each other and registered the impossible situation before them. "Um… this isn't what it looks like…?" Danny told them meekly before Tucker fainted.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Winston was not entirely sure what he should do. For the past half an hour, he had been having a stare down with an entity that he had been hoping that he would never have to see again. The reason was that it brought chaos and destruction everywhere it went, and it seemed to be after the last known surviving member of a family it personally tried to destroy over a decade ago. And, what made it worse was that he had no idea where that person was, even if he had seen him just before he had left the house.

Though, this staring contest felt off. The ghost that was floating not even fifty yards away seemed distracted as if it was waiting for something, and, from what he knew of it, this was incredibly unusual. In the past, although it did have a tendency to gloat on occasion, it tended to go straight towards its goal in a manner that showed careful planning. Yet, he knew that if he tried to get away, it would definitely stop him probably even before he managed to get back into his car. Oh did he wish that he had some of the Fenton's inventions with him, but with what the ghost had done, that was impossible now.

"I'm surprised, Plasmius" he said after a few more moments, hoping that he could possibly talk his way out of this, "you were never this statuesque before. What changed?"

The ghost looked at him carefully before it smiled carefully. "Oh, I assure you that nothing's changed. Do you really think so little of me to assume that I've lost my touch?"

"Then why keep me here? There's nothing that I have of value to you nor do I pose any threat!"

Plasmius' smile grew larger after he spoke, which sent chills down his spine. "Is that really the case?" it asked as it floated just a little closer. "Then tell me, how does the boy fare? If my calculations are correct, isn't it about time for him to come into his birthright?"

Winston felt his blood grow cold. So, all this time, it did know that he had custody of the boy, and not only that, it knew exactly where they lived. He had walked into a trap! It was just trying to get him away from Danny. How could he have been so stupid?

"And, where are we going? Hmm?" the ghost asked as it watched him move closer to his car. "You wouldn't be trying to head back to young Daniel, would you?" When the only answer it received was a glare, it chuckled. "Oh, you don't have to worry yet; I won't take him from you tonight. No, that would just be too easy and not as rewarding. Instead, I'll gain hold of him in a way that will not only humiliate you, but will also tear away his trust in you, if you continue to keep silent."

"You… you monster! There's no way that I'll ever let you do that!"

"Really? The signs have begun to appear, and if you're not careful, the shock of that change will be too much and he'll have no choice but to come with me." It then vanished only to appear inches from his face. "I mean, just today, his eyes turned this brilliant shade of green, the exact shade of ectoplasm, when my… associate… spoke with him not too long ago."

"Bastard!" Winston snarled as he tried to punch it in the face only to end up hitting his car instead. Laughter came from behind him, which only enraged him more. "What did you do to him?"

"Me? I haven't done a thing yet, but mark my words, I will get a hold of him. Just keep close watch on him for now, since you won't be able to for much longer. Ta!" With that final word, it once again vanished from site causing him to do spin around to attempt to find it. Yet, after a few moments it really seemed like it was gone for the time being.

He sighed in momentary relief that he managed to get out of the meeting unscathed. But, now that it made it clear that its goal was Danny, what was he supposed to do? With the current situation with the state, there was no way that he would be able to move, and on top of that, it appeared that the ghost somehow had the ability to track them. And, what had it meant when it mentioned an associate? There was just too much information to mull over from this meeting to understand it in the moment. He would have to wait until he got home… and hopefully, Danny had managed to find his way back already. If not, hopefully he'd head back soon. With that thing around, no place was safe for him.

….

"Danny…? Are you home yet?" he called out once he entered the house. There was no reply, but he did hear noises coming from one of the rooms. He called out again as he tried to figure out where they were coming from.

Suddenly, a figure emerged from one of the doorways. He was taken aback until he realized that it was just Danny's friend, Tucker. "Oh, you're home!" he said in a relieved voice. "We thought it might be that Vlad guy again…"

"Vlad guy…?" he repeated as looked around. "Wait, where's Danny?"

"Uh…" Winston stared at the boy as he tried to answer him. "He's… currently in the bathroom. Sam's with him. He… uh… isn't feeling well…" Worried, he quickly moved towards the bathroom, followed by a rather surprised Tucker.

"Danny?" he asked softly as he slowly entered the room. The scene he entered would have been comical if he wasn't so worried. Sam had been massaging his back but stopped abruptly as he entered and adopted an expression that was somewhere between embarrassment and normality. Danny was hanging over the side of the bathtub with a blanket draped over him. He weakly smiled as he looked at him before turning back towards the tub.

In that brief instant that Danny had looked at him, he had seen the boy's eyes turn green. So, the ghost hadn't lied about that. Maybe it really was happening… but, he would debate with himself over what to say to Danny, once he figured out how to help him get better.

.............................................................

Notes:   
For some reason, I picture the house that Winston and Danny live in as being a fairly decent size, like one of those more recently built homes (I currently am unsure how Winston affords it).

Beta'ed by dragondancer123 on ff.net


	6. Phone Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unpleasant phone call and a letter hold clues to Masters' interest in Danny
> 
> Fic is now being cross-posted on Tumblr too - https://ayamari-no-goshi.tumblr.com/

Winston was at a complete loss as to what to do. Though Danny was feeling better, he firmly denied anything strange happened before he started feeling ill. Worse, his friends had decided they were not going to leave for a while. After everything that had happened during the day, he really needed to talk to the boy. It was just he did not want company to hear… though, knowing Danny, he would probably tell his friends anyway.

His other problem involved trying to figure out just how much he should say. He knew he had to explain what happened to the boy's parents, it seemed to factor into both Masters' and Plasmius' involvement in the whole mess. But the other aspect, which held most of Plasmius' attention, was a touchy subject. Unfortunately, that would have to wait until a later time. Without Danny's acknowledgement, there was little that could be said.

He ran his hand through his hair while he continued to pace. Why did everything have to be so complicated?

A sound from the phone interrupted his contemplation. Irritated, he glared at the number and realized it was in his best interests to answer it. Blasted social services! They couldn't leave him alone for more than a few hours anymore. Though, in this case, he did deserve it. After taking a moment to calm himself, he answered the phone, expecting to hear the social worker from earlier in the day. Instead, he was shocked to discover the educated-sounding voice on the other end belonged to none other than the Vlad Masters.

"Hello! Is this Winston?" he asked with a strange, almost false, enthusiasm. "Splendid! I'm just calling to check in as I was informed earlier that you had to cancel a meeting with one of my representatives due to an emergency earlier today."

Winston's eyes narrowed as he listened. "Sorry about that. I tried explaining to the woman that I'd gladly reschedule as it was imperative that I checked in on the situation. It was just as much as a shock to me as to everyone else." He paused for a moment. "You know, I wasn't told that the meeting was with one of your people."

"What?" The voice on the phone had the nerve to sound shocked. "I could have sworn that you had been informed. I'll have to make note to talk to the office about that. Anyways, the meeting was supposed to go over the legal aspects of young Daniel's case."

"Legal aspects? What 'legal aspects'? The courts decided years ago that I had full legal permission to take care of him! You honestly want to remove him from the place he's called home for the last twelve years?"

"There's no need to get testy with me, now is there? Yes, you were given permission, but things have changed since then. That letter of yours was definitely written by the Fentons, but it's hardly a true legal document. So, I've decided to retry the case."

"I hope you realize if it was considered fine back then, it most likely will have the same result now."Although he tried to sound civil, Winston could hear the growl lurking beneath. Just from the way Masters was talking, it was clear there was something abnormal about his interest in Danny. Not only that, but it just did not make sense the problem of a couple missing documents would turn into a potential court case so quickly. It seemed like Masters was doing his best to puppeteer everything to a favorable situation, which was starting to sound worrisome.

"…I'm also going to remind you, even though you probably already know this," he continued, not caring if Masters had something else to say. "It is unlikely that the courts will want to remove Danny from a home where he's been well-taken care of. Not only that, all of the proper paperwork has been turned in showing I've adopted him legally, other than the couple forms that have disappeared. It will just be easier for all parties to have me continue to take care of him."

A somewhat dark laugh answered him. "Let's look at this piece by piece, shall we? Are you certain the boy's happy and healthy? Why, when I visited your house earlier today, he looked under the weather. Think of what the courts will think when he doesn't get better."

"And are you insinuating that he won't?" he demanded. Silence was the only answer he received, though he could almost sense the smirk forming on Masters' face. "And what do you mean visited? You're telling me that you were here, in person?"

"Oh yes. Though, I must say that Daniel was quite displeased to find me in your kitchen. He wasted no time in confronting me. Haven't you taught him not to talk to strangers?"

Winston could just feel his blood pressure rising to the boiling point. "Y-you…! HOW DARE YOU! DO YOU HONESTLY THINK THAT YOUR MONEY GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO BARGE INTO OTHER PEOPLE'S HOMES?"

"Oh dear… It appears as if our conversation has turned a bit sour. Let's continue this on a different day, hmm?"

It took nearly all of his willpower to calm down to the point where he was sure that he was not going to yell again. "Fine… but let me ask you this first: what is your interest in Danny? I know that someone like you rarely involves himself in the personal lives of other, especially those we aren't in your social class. So, why?"

"Me? I'm simply trying to do what my two old friends requested of me before their deaths."

"Forgive me if I don't believe that. And, what makes you think they're dead? No evidence has ever been found. I'd think as a friend, you'd be hoping for the best until proven otherwise."

"Oh ho, more questions! And here I thought we were done." There was a pause before another strange laugh came across the phone. "But I'll indulge you one last time tonight. Though I'd love to be told that Maddie and Jack have been found, I know it's quite unlikely. It's been nearly thirteen years, and statistics have shown that the odds of a missing person surviving that long are so minute it's laughable." He then paused for a moment before speaking again. "Winston, as a… normally… reasonable man, so I implore you to think about this carefully. A court case will be messy and will probably drain you financially. Also, think about the boy's happiness. You're telling me that he wouldn't be happier in my care?"

"From what I've heard over the phone, you sound like you view Danny more as an object than an actual person, so I doubt it," Winston snorted. "Mr. Masters, until that court date, stay away from my house and my family. Now, if you excuse me, I have some things that I have to attend to." He then slammed the phone down and breathed.

It had taken all of his willpower to not start cursing at the man. If he didn't trust the man before, he certainly didn't now. There had been something that had been left unsaid in the conversation, even if they had danced around the topic. Masters had made it sound earlier that Danny would remain ill, but with how angry he had been at the time, he hadn't bothered to press the subject. Was it possible that he knew about Danny's 'condition'? And, could he have been the associate that Plasmius mentioned?

Well… whether he was or wasn't, he still needed to talk to Danny. Without wasting another minute, he started towards the boy's room.

xxxxx

"Tucker, asking him the same question over and over is not helping!" Sam warned the boy while eyeing the PDA in his hand. From Danny's vantage point, he wasn't entirely sure if she making sure it wasn't going to be thrown or if she was thinking about swiping it.

"But... he's gotta know something!" Tucker's voice was panicky. Since his scare earlier, he had been trying to find a rational explanation for what had happened, but his efforts were failing miserably. However, it wasn't because he wasn't asking the right questions, but rather, Danny honestly did not have the answers.

He sighed as he watched Sam threaten to destroy the PDA in what he assumed was the wrong was to calm someone down. What was going on? Although he didn't want to admit it, this was similar to what happened on Sunday, though he hadn't gotten stuck that time. The best thing that he could come up with is that it was some weird sickness that was causing it. He really didn't want to say anything to Winston, especially since this was only the second time that this had happened.

But, although falling through solid objects was definitely strange, it was not the first odd occurrence he had experienced recently. There was that frightening encounter the previous week with that thing... "Hey, guys..." he said quietly as he tried to put his thoughts in order, "Do you think this could be related to that strange thing that chased us?"

Tucker looked confused for a moment while Sam just narrowed her eyes. "You mean the thing that appeared in the cemetery? Why would you think that?" she asked, dubious.

"Why'd you have to go and bring that up?" Tucker nearly choked. "I've been trying to forget about it!"

Danny allowed himself to smile at Tucker's reaction in spite of his concerns. "Well... nothing really strange started until that happened. Also, do you remember that it said something somewhat odd before it vanished? I think it was something like, 'Enjoy it while it lasts'."

"I remember that..." Sam told him as she looked at him curiously. "It was almost like it was saying that you weren't going to be around for much longer." A frown appeared on her face as she thought about it for a moment. "So... do you think he knew about this?"

"Or maybe it made this happen..."

"Great, just great! That's just what I need to hear! You don't think that thing scared me enough when we first saw it? Now you're giving it super powers!"

Unsure what to say, he just watched as Tucker's fearful exclamation turned into a full-blown rant that somehow seemed to jump from the fear of the unknown entity to worry that his precious PDA would be damaged back to the fact that people shouldn't be able to get their leg stuck in the floor. Although he knew he should probably stop him, it was probably better if he got it all out now. It would definitely make it easier to talk to him, once he calmed down either by his own volition or by Sam's.

However, he wasn't stopped by either things. Instead, a loud shout, which was probably more comparable to an enraged snarl, took all of them by surprised. Danny looked towards his door in shock. Winston almost never raised his voice like that, but when he did, usually it was not a good thing. He only hoped that he was not going to end up on the receiving end later on.

"Uh... was that...?" Tucker asked worriedly. It was almost as if he was afraid to finish the question.

He nodded and listened for a moment. It sounded like his guardian was on the phone with someone. "He doesn't lose his temper too often," he told his friends before donning a wry smile. "But when he does, I'd rather be facing that weird thing again."

...

It was a little later when a knock on his door interrupted his conversation. "Danny? May I come in?" Winston's voice called from behind it. Although Danny really did not want to deal with his guardian at that moment, he knew that it would be dangerous to refuse, especially after the outburst earlier.

After telling him that he could, Winston came in, and it was very clear that he had a lot on his mind. The man looked so worn and stressed, that he seemed to have aged at least ten years in a single night. Hopefully, that was just a temporary thing.

"Danny... I know that this is probably not the best time, but..." Winston's tone suddenly changed from pleasant to accusing. "Where did find those?"

He was definitely confused by the question, until Winston gestured towards the letters that were now on his end table. With everything that happened, he had completely forgotten about them. "Oh, those. I had found them in your study when I came home... "

"He was the only one who went inside though!" Tucker piped before anyone else had a chance to say something. "What?" he asked after Sam gave him a strange look. "I'm trying to save him from getting in trouble."

Danny was surprised when he watched Winston's suspicious glare change into a more amused expression. "You definitely have found some good friends."

"Actually, they found me," Danny corrected. After all, it was them who decided to go look for supposed ghost in the cemetery. That thought just amused him. Who in their right mind thought that he was a ghost?

"Would you mind handing me those?" Winston after allowing himself to take a set at the end of the bed. After being giving the letters, he seemed unsure of what to say. "Did... did you take a look at these?"

"No... After I found them, we ended up being distracted by that Masters guy... Oh, that's right, I... uh... forgot to mention that to you..." Even he could hear the nervousness in his voice. Random people being in the house without permission was somewhat important.

"I know... He was the one who called earlier, and he decided to let that slip..." There was a momentary pause before Winston looked at him with a very serious expression. "These letters both have something to do with what happened to your parents and part of what's happening now. And, it's about time that you knew."

Wait, was Winston really about to tell him what he thought he was? He wasn't too sure what to say until Sam made a noise, making him jump. For a moment, he had forgotten that his friends were still in the room.

"Uh... do you want us to leave... since this is a delicate subject and all?" she asked. From her expression, he could tell that she really didn't want to leave just yet.

"It's alright... I know that no matter what, you'll end up hearing the story anyways." Winston replied with a bit of a grin. "How to start this off...? Danny, back before you were born, your parents were actually making quite a name for themselves as scientists and inventors, focusing mostly on the field of parapsychology, which is how I ended up initially meeting them."

"Parapsychology? You mean like research on stuff like ghosts and psychic abilities?" Sam asked. It was clear that her interest was clearly peaked.

Winston nodded. "The very same, though they tended to focus more on what they referred to as ghost hunting. Anyways, it appears that some of their research caused a bit of a problem for them. Someone by the name of Plasmius... started taking a negative interest in your family. It's a bit unclear why, but shortly after you were born, Plasmius decided to, for lack of a better word, attack your family."

"Your parents seemed to know he was coming... and called me shortly before that attack happened. But, I got there too late. By that time, the house was a mess and your parents were... just gone! It's not entirely clear what happened to them. I searched the house for some clue, but it was as if they vanished into thin air. Yet, somehow, I was able to find you, Danny. You were unhurt and tucked away in a laundry basket of all things."

"Where... do the letters fit in?" he asked, unsure how everything was related.

"I'm getting to that. Now, according to your parents' will, a friend of theirs was supposed to take care of you if anything ended up happening to them. However, about a month before the attack, I was sent a letter from them that asked if I would be willing to take care of you instead." Holding up the one letter, he frowned as he examined it. "It looks like someone's been reading this... Anyways, although it's not a proper document, the courts seemed to view it as an updated but unofficial will. It caused a lot of problems for your parents' friend who seemed almost desperate to get a hold of you."

"I'm a bit confused..." Tucker interrupted. "Why didn't Danny's parents want their friend to take care of him?"

"It's not entirely clear..." Winston told them rather slowly as if he wasn't sure how to phrase what he wanted to say. "But, from what I understand, they seemed to suspect him of somehow being in league with Plasmius. After the problem with the court was settled, I moved us away from your old hometown, hoping that it would bring an end to the trouble... I was wrong. It... it appears that he past is trying to repeat itself. The second letter you found was from Plasmius, saying that he knew where we are. I was so shaken up... I went out to see if I could find you, but I ran into it... him instead... On top of that, Vlad Masters has gotten himself involved again... He thinks that he can win this time... It's such a mess."

There was just silence as Winston finished up. It was very clear that he was deeply troubled by the whole even, and Danny was just as lost. There was just so much information to sift through and try to understand, but something was sitting a little off. "'win this time'?" he repeated. "Do you mean that the guy that was in our house today was the same person my parents didn't want to take care of me?"

"The very same. I don't know exactly why he's so dead set on this. It could be related to Plasmius, or it could be a completely different matter. I don't know." Winston sighed for a moment before he looked directly into his charges eyes, making him nervous for some reason. "All I do know is that Plasmius is very dangerous and has some sort of interest in you." He then stood up and moved towards the door. "Be careful. I don't want to find out that the next time you disappear is because of him."

_____________________________________________________________

End of chapter note: 

Because this came up when it was originally posted on ff.net. Winston has 2 reasons for not calling the police on Vlad. 1) he knows that Vlad has a lot of money and a lot of influence, so it wouldn't be worth it and 2) it's unlikely that he'd be able to prove it on eye witness testimony alone.


	7. First Confrontations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A threat reveals itself, and the teens debate what to do

It had been about two weeks since Danny had decided to visit the cemetery on his own. As he traveled the familiar paths, he constantly checked his surroundings for a sign of another's presence. Although he wasn't exactly, happy he felt that there was a need to check, it was better to play it safe. That creature had been there once after all, so who was to say that it would not appear again?

Without even realizing he had been aiming for it, he soon reached his favorite part of the grounds. A small stone terrace decorated with a couple benches sat neatly out of the way of both graves and the normal path. Since it was surrounded by trees, it was often easy to miss by visitors, assuring he would be able to think in peace for a while.

Words and images manufactured from hours of speculation kept swimming around his head. He tried to make sense of everything, but it just seemed to make his confusion worse. The puzzle of both his past and his parents' was not only vast, but complicated. It was likely it was possible to solve it; however he was pretty sure that there were several pieces that he still didn't have.

The new information about his unknown parents seemed to take precedence over any other thoughts. They had disappeared after being attacked, yet Winston had never actually said if they were still alive. Maybe his guardian withheld the information because of concern, or perhaps he didn't even know for sure. So, was it possible that they could still be out there somewhere? Wouldn't that be nice? But, he knew that it was incredibly unlikely just because of how much time had passed. Besides, he'd have absolutely no idea what he would say to them.

There was also the issue of the guy that had attacked his parents… Plasmius, or something like that. Winston seemed very hesitant to talk about him and had even danced around the subject once he had gotten a chance to ask him for details. Although he couldn't say for sure, it felt as if something big was being left out of the story, even if he had no idea what it could be. Was this Plasmius just an unorthodox researcher with some frightening ideas? Or was there more to it? Tucker had suggested that he could be some type of crazy arms dealer (though he personally didn't understand how weapons and paranormal science could mix).

Danny took a moment to both rest his mind and to attempt to figure out how to make his hand visible again. Shortly after his conversation with Winston, different parts of his body had seemingly begun to randomly disappear. The first time it happened, he had been trying to wash his face the one morning, only to realize that the wash cloth was seemingly floating in mid air. Although his hand reappeared only a few moments later, he was absolutely amazed that none of the neighbors called the police because of his regrettably very unmanly scream.

Since that initial incident, he was still no closer to understanding why it happened. It was possible that it was somehow related to the incidents where he fell through a solid object. However, he was currently unable to rationalize how that was possible. The only thing he could say was he was absolutely terrified of what it might be doing to his body, and what his friends might think if they happened to be unlucky enough to ever get to see it. That was why he had not contacted them in over a week.

He ran his hand through his hair as he sighed. No matter how much he tried to wrap his head around it, there was just too much he didn't know which prevented him from piecing everything together. Although he was definitely hesitant about contacting them, his friends, but talking to them over the phone would definitely help calm the chaotic storm in his mind, even if they couldn't contribute anything thing.

After glancing at his watch, he realized that Winston was probably going to be expecting him back home soon. As he got up off the bench, he inadvertently shuddered after a strange, almost breeze-like chill caressed his body which was almost immediately replaced by the feeling of being watched. "H-hello…?" he stammered, hoping that it was just his imagination. The last thing he needed at the moment was a repeat of what happened the last time he experienced this feeling.

"Okay… You're losing it," he told himself when nothing answered him. "There's nothing here except you and some dead people… Nothing to worry about… unless Amity Park has suddenly become Pittsburgh…"

"Zombies… How amusing. It always astounds me how the mind of a teenager can jump to such things."

Danny felt himself grow rigid as a sick sort of recognition ran through him. There was no way he could forget the sound of that voice, not after the terror he felt the last time he heard it. The chilling yet oddly sophisticated tone told him that whatever was speaking was definitely the very same creature he had encountered last time.

"W-who… what are you…?" he asked it, hoping he could possibly keep it occupied long enough for him to magically figure out a way to make an escape. The only problem was that he had this sinking suspicion it was smarter than him.

A strange and unnerving chuckle answered him. "I take it that you've heard of ghosts before, my boy?"

"So… you're telling me that you're a ghost…?" he asked slowly while he tried to figure out what was creepier: a disembodied voice talking about ghosts or it calling him 'my boy'.

"And you got it right on the first guess. I must say that I'm impressed."

His eyes narrowed as he tried to figure out where it might be. Sure he was definitely scared of it, but currently the anger at it actually questioning his intelligence was currently overriding his fear. "Are you just here to annoy me?" he snapped. "If so, you're really doing a good job."

"Oh, I assure you that I have more important things to do than to wound the pride of an adolescent," it told him with a flourish before its tone became one of hunger. "I'm here to take you away from this world."

He slowly began to back up. Its voice had originally had sounded like it was coming from terrace boundary, now seemed like it was coming from right in front of him. And, it definitely felt as if something was standing only a few feet away from him, even if he couldn't see it.

"Are you afraid?" it asked him it an amused tone. "You really shouldn't be. Daniel, you don't belong in this world. You never have."

"Wh-what do you mean?" The fear was present in his voice now, and there was nothing that he could do to attempt to hide it. He backed up until he felt tree bark pressing into his skin. Whatever this thing was, it had managed to corner him.

He glanced around desperately, hoping there was something he could do. However, his attempts stopped when he realized a figure was slowly starting to materialize out of the air. He could tell it was humanoid in shape, but the features were still too burry to make out.

Once again, the voice, which seemed to be coming from the slowly emerging figure, chuckled. "Oh come now Daniel, haven't you realized that you feel more comfortable among the dead than the living?" Apparently, it took the confused look on his face as a confirmation as it continued. "I've watched you for a while now. I know that you come here because it seems to call to you. It's the only place where you can connect with the other side, whether you realize it or not."

His focus turned away from the conversation as he noticed that the figure appeared to be reaching out for him. He batted the hand away, surprised when he felt the resistance of another person. With the realization there was something physical there, he tried to further push himself away from it, but instead of finding the resistance of the tree, it felt like he was suddenly stumbling through a wall of water. The next thing he knew, he was sitting on the ground facing the opposite side of the tree.

"Good… It looks like your powers are developing quite nicely." The creature's voice now seemed to contain a dark interest as it again moved closer, undeterred by what had happened. It's form, though still hazy, was now visible enough for Danny to clearly identify it as having more of a male build. "Though, they're still tied to your emotions, which won't do you much good at the moment."

"P-powers?" he almost choked as he tried scooting away from it, ignoring the fact that he now had a chance to run. "What are you talking about?"

"So Winston really hasn't told you anything. It's such a shame." For a moment it appeared that it would say something else, but tilted its head as if it was listening to something. "Your friends have remarkable timing," it told him in a tone that clearly expressed that it was not happy about the intrusion.

He had no idea what it meant until he heard a faint voice calling his name. "Sam?" he shouted back in a surprised terror. "Don't come closer! Get out of here!"

"DANNY?" Her voice sounded closer.

The creature chucked yet again. "Oh, don't worry, I can wait a little longer before I claim you. Just be prepared." The voice seemed to fade away along with the pale outline of whatever it really was.

As soon as he felt like the creature was truly gone, he breathed deeply in relief only to jump at the sounds of Sam finally reaching him. He had just enough time to look up at her before one of his arms decided that it no longer cared for the rigidity of the ground and sank right through it before getting stuck.

…

"So… where's Tucker…?" he asked in an attempt to strike up a conversation after he and Sam rather awkwardly started back towards the entrance. It was definitely a risk for him to speak as his stomach started to turn against him, which apparently was going to happen every time something weird happened. But, knowing that he had frightened one of his only friends was enough to get him to try.

She was silent for a moment before she spoke, making sure that she did not glance at him. "He's waiting near the entrance… He said that he was too frightened to go any further than that."

"Oh…"

He bit his lip as he tried to figure out something else to say. Sam had managed to handle seeing him try to free his foot from a floor quite well, but apparently watching how it had happened was a little too much for her. He wished that there was something that he could say that would help, but what could he say when he didn't even understand what was happening?

"Um… Danny…" He glanced over at her only to realize that she had stopped a few feet behind him. She was uncharacteristically playing with the hem of her skirt before she looked up at him with blazing eyes. "What's going on? Now I'm all for the weird and freaky, but even this is starting to get too weird, even for me!"

"Sam…" Before he could really say anything, she interrupted him.

"If you want me and Tucker to continue to be your friends, you've got to start explaining things! This is the second time that I've seen some part of your body get stuck into something solid. That's not normal no matter how you look at it! What are you? What was that thing? What's going on?"

"Do you think I know?" he snapped at her, causing her to stop her rant and stare at him. "If I knew what is happening to me, don't you think I would have said something after Tucker fainted?" Getting irritated was definitely not the best idea since his stomach decided to forcefully remind him that it was already upset with him. In an attempt to keep everything under control, he sat on the ground while resting his head on his knees. This illness thing was really starting to get on his nerves.

A hesitant touch caused him to glance up. Although it was very clear that she still felt uncomfortable, Sam had decided to come over and gently run his back in a somewhat apologetic attempt to make him feel better. "I'll wait until we get out of here before I ask anything else. You need time to feel better, and Tucker'll mentally need to prepare himself. I swear he can be so cowardly sometimes."

…

As he watched his friend try to find ways to rationalize what he was told of what had occurred in the graveyard, he grimly decided he would rather deal with attempting to escape from that creature… or ghost, if that's what it really was, than dealing with Tucker's spastic response to his fears. After meeting up with him at the entrance of the graveyard, they had relocated to Tucker's house to talk things over.

"So, you're telling me that this thing told you that not only do you not belong in 'this world' but that it was going to take you away too?" Tucker asked as he adjusted his glasses. "What's to say that it's not going to come after you while we're around?"

"That's what I've been trying to tell you," he sighed, for what felt like the thousandth time that day. "From what I understand, it could have very easily have taken me away earlier today, but instead it decided to leave when Sam appeared. It doesn't make much sense to me either, but I guess it would rather take me when there was no one around to watch…"

"But why?" Sam's tone made it clear that she held a great deal of skepticism about the motives of the creature. "I mean… I was the only other person around earlier, and it had plenty of time to take you and run, or fly, or whatever… you know what I mean… before I even managed to get a good look at either of you. There's just something that doesn't feel right about it."

Although Danny hadn't thought about it before, she had made a very valid point. That thing could have done anything it wanted with him, yet it decided to leave him alone again. There really seemed to be no logical reason for it. Well, no logical reason that he could come up with. For some reason, it just felt like it was somehow playing a game with him.

"Wait a minute, Sam! You actually saw this thing?" Tucker demanded, completely ignoring everything else that she had said. "What did it look like?"

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow for a moment before she spoke. "Why do you want to know? I thought that you were afraid of this thing…"

"I am, but I'd like to know what my doom looks like so that I have a better chance to be prepared."

"Tucker, we're dealing with something that's calling itself a ghost, meaning that it can become invisible. How is that going to help?"

For a second, he thought that the word 'ghost' was going to cause Tucker to go into another set of hysterics, but instead he smile rather broadly. "Well, if that's the case, than I guess I don't need to worry all that much."

"Wait a minute, you've been scared of this thing for two weeks and now it's suddenly fine? What's going on?" Danny asked after he shared a very confused glance with Sam.

Tucker gave them a rather surprised look before he started to look up something on his PDA. After mere seconds, he shoved it towards them so that they could get a glance at the article he pulled up. "I'm actually surprised that you haven't heard about this Sam, especially because of how interested you are in all things dark and creepy, but if that thing really is a ghost, then it's not going to leave its haunt."

"Wait, that's right!" Sam exclaimed after handing the PDA back to Tucker. "Ghosts tend to haunt places that have some sort of significance to them, and they're never seen anywhere else. So if that thing's haunt is the cemetery, then…"

"It's going to stay there…?" Danny asked with a little bit of uncertainty.

"EXACTLY!" Tucker nodded to himself, pleased that everyone now seemed to be on the same page. "That means that I don't have to worry about it. But… just in case… what did it look like?"

He just shook his head. "I… I'm not entirely sure."

"What do you mean you're not sure?"

"Um… well, it was almost like it was slowly coming into focus the whole time it was talking to me, and I was more focused on trying to escape than anything else…."

"You had to have seen something?"

The desperation in Tucker's voice made him try to revisit the encounter to see if anything in particular decided to stick out at him. "It… was about the size of a normal man," he said slowly after a moment, "and was wearing black gloves."

"And it had a cape," Sam added.

"It had a cape?" both he and Tucker asked rather incredulously.

She nodded. "That's really the only thing that I know I saw."

"Wait, you're telling me that this thing thinks that it's some sort of demonic superhero?" Tucker practically demanded.

"How should I know what it thinks? And what makes you say that?"

After that simple question, the three of them managed to somehow get into a rather complicated debate about the various superhero universes. Although it was completely off topic, it was definitely a very welcome distraction from the earlier events of the day.

Although he kept trying to push it from his mind, there was something that nagging him about the encounter. Sure, Tucker might be convinced that the self-proclaimed-ghost would not appear anywhere else other than the cemetery, but he wasn't as sure. All of the ghost stories he had heard had taught him that ghosts were not able to hurt the living, yet he was absolutely certain that if it had wanted to, it could have easily have killed him or Sam. Assuming that it had that sort of power made him wonder if it could throw the other 'rules' out of the window too.

The only problem was that he didn't have the necessary information about it though. Hopefully, he would never get a chance to learn it, but something told him that he wouldn't be that lucky. The only thing he could do was wait and see what happened in the upcoming days.

===================================================================  
Okay, there's a few notes for this chapter:

1) Story timeline rundown:  
Ch.1 Sat  
Ch.2 Sat night  
Ch. 3 Sun  
Ch. 4 Wed afternoon  
Ch. 5 Wed afternoon  
Ch. 6 Wed night  
Ch. 7 Sun (two weeks after chapter 3)

The story starts in the 2nd week of September (the year is rather unnecessary to know). The reason is that this is what came to mind when I first started working on this, and that I have absolutely no idea when Danny's actual birth date (if there is an official one) really is.

If you don't get the Pittsburgh reference, it's okay. Pittsburgh's often called the zombie capital of the world because of how many zombie films have been made there.

Eidolon is now crossposted on Tumblr - https://ayamari-no-goshi.tumblr.com/tagged/Eidolon


	8. Double Teamed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both Danny and Winston plan to have a quiet night only to have them interrupted
> 
> Chapter is cross-posted on FF.net and Tumblr.

It had been an incredibly trying day, and Winston was more than glad to be home. Chaos greeted him as he walked into work and had remained until it the end of the day. His ears were still ringing from a rather vicious call from a mother claiming that the school was somehow brainwashing her child. Although it was quite possible that one of the teachers had said something questionable in class, he highly doubted that aliens were in any way involved. To make matters worse, he was forced to go to a meeting afterwards with one of Vlad's representatives, which ended up being far more problematic.

The representative as well as the state mediator (who had been sent to babysit them) explicitly told him that a date had been set for a hearing, and if the judge found that the accusations were valid, than Danny's case would go to court. It sounds simple enough, but Winston had no idea where Vlad had managed to get his so called evidence. Maltreatment of a child? That was preposterous! He had done the best that he could to take care of the boy, and although he was nowhere near perfect, he felt that Danny was growing up just fine. How Vlad managed to convince the state that there was a problem was beyond him.

What was even more surprising was learning that the date for the hearing was so soon, just after Danny's birthday. Due to how busy the U.S. court system could be, it could take months to years for a hearing to occur, let alone an actual case. Yet, he was going to have to deal with one in just a couple weeks. It was, for lack of a better word, uncanny. It was possible that there just happened to be an opening that particular day, but it was more likely that Vlad had somehow used him money to move up the date.

There was just something not right about the entire mess, and the more Winston thought about it the more he became convinced there was something else to the motives of the eccentric billionaire. When the representative called his boss during the meeting and mentioned when the date was, the man seemingly lost it. Although Winston could not make out any of the words, it was very clear that something about the date was in no ways appealing. It was also odd that Vlad had managed to convince the state of a possible problem with Danny's current situation. With there being no previous reports, complaints, or evidence it seemed utterly ridiculous that the state would have taken such a claim seriously, especially without having sent their own investigator out.

He also had a sinking suspicion that Vlad was somehow involved with Plasmius, but there was no way to prove it. The strange co-appearance of the two had strengthened previous misgivings that had been brought up by the letters the Fentons had sent him prior to their disappearance. But Vlad was too intelligent to have any dealings with a creature like Plasmius. They could be in contact through a second party, but that would be stretching it as well. There was also the fact that Vlad had alluded to having knowledge about what was currently plaguing Danny. If that was true, how would he have gotten that knowledge?

A throbbing pain interrupted his thoughts. The migraine he had been trying to ignore throughout the day was no longer manageable through willpower alone. As he searched the kitchen cabinets for some medicine that could take the bite out of the pain, he tried to push the previous thoughts from his mind. It was true that Vlad's motives did not seem to add up, but it was probably nothing more than the man's unusual nature. Paranoia and anger can be some of the best motivators of the imagination.

It was probably in his best interest to lie down once he managed to take the medicine, but he figured that he should at least try to get some idea of how he was going to break the news to Danny first. The boy had finally gotten out of the funk he had been in after being informed about what had happened to his parents with the help the apparent help of his friends. It had been their idea to have a sleepover tonight, since tomorrow was the start of the weekend, to help keep him in good spirits. Winston had been very glad that they had been worried enough to try and get through to him. Everything he had tried with the boy had failed miserably, and had been considering taking him to a psychiatrist if his closed off mood continued.

As he thought about it, he figured that it would probably be best to explain the situation fully once Danny returned home. He had tried to keep most of the details hidden as to not worry the boy, but with the severity of the current situation, the time for secrets was over. Danny was going to need to know exactly what to expect.

He sighed as he rubbed his forehead. His migraine was getting worse. After checking to make sure that all of the legal papers he was going to need within the next few days were organized, he decided to turn in for the night.

….

Getting to sleep was harder than Winston thought he would. His migraine prevented any position from being comfortable. After about twenty minutes, he had finally managed to start to doze when a strange noise caught his attention. Sitting bolt upright, he strained his ears for any further noise. The house seemed quite enough and his throbbing headache was a compelling enough reason to go back to sleep.

As he lay back down, a severe chill crept over his body. Knowing that the situation was quickly becoming dangerous, he slowly reached down to retrieve the gun that was hidden under the mattress.

"Do you really think that toy will be effective against me?"

He had rolled out of bed as soon as the voice had begun to speak. A moment later, he was standing with his gun trained on the specter. "Plasmius…." he hissed, "what do you want?"

The ghost smiled as it placed its hands behind its back. "Normally, I would say the boy, but he's currently not here at the moment, is he?"

"If you already knew that, why did you come?" Winston asked while trying to determine a possible escape route. Of course the ghost had placed itself between him and the door.

"It's simple, really," it told him with a flourish. "The current chain of events is moving a bit too slowly for my liking, so I'm speeding it up a bit by removing you from the equation."

Winston cocked the weapon in his hands as he readied himself for any sign of attack. "Sorry to burst your bubble," he told it as he slowly started to move towards the door, "but if I'm gone, Danny will just be sent to Vlad Masters. And believe me when I tell you that the man has the money to get what's needed to keep you away."

An amused laugh answered him. Winton eyed the specter carefully as he asked, "What's so funny?"

"Because that's exactly what I want to happen," it replied as it suddenly fired a plasma ray at him.

He barely managed to dodge, and by the time he had caught himself, another blast was coming his way. The strange cool but burning energy sent him flying backwards into the wall when it hit. After sliding down the wall, he glanced up at his attacker. "I don't understand," he told it as he winced. The attack had done some damage to his ribs.

It laughed again as it approached him. "With as intelligent as you are surely you've noticed that there's some sort of connection between myself and Masters. Only, it's far more complicated than you think it is." As it spoke, a strange black ring of energy came into existence around its waist before it split. Both halves of the ring traveling along both halves of its body as it melded its appearance into that of Vlad Masters. "Ta da. It's a handy little trick, don't you think?"

Winston had seen a great deal during the course of his life, especially after having served in the military, but not even that had prepared him for such a shocking event. "Wh-what are you?" he stuttered.

"Me?" the billionaire asked with faked surprise. "I'm the same as young Daniel is… or I should say will be once his birthday comes around."

It suddenly became apparent to Winston why Vlad had been so angry during the phone call earlier. The hearing would fall after Danny's birthday… after he became… He didn't even want to think about it.

"Did you know that Jack and Maddie had gone into the field of paranormal studies in order to find a cure for their son's 'aliment' years before he was even conceived?" Vlad gave him a disgusted look as he… it began to pace. "They knew what a child of theirs could end up being, but they failed to see the truth of the matter… The boy would be given gifts that no human could ever dream of understanding. So, I did the boy a favor and got rid of them. But, unbeknownst to me at the time, they had thrown a wrench into my plans, you!" It glared at him as the black rings formed again and returned it to its proper appearance. "But after tonight, that's not going to matter anymore."

"And I say that it's not going to be as easy as you think, you crazed-up fruit loop!" he shouted as he raised his gun, stared into those crimson eyes, and fired.

xxxxxxxxxxx

"Guys, after everything that's happened, do you really think it's a good idea for us to be out, in the park, alone, at night?" Tucker asked as he followed behind him and Sam. His voice betrayed just how frightened he was.

Sam just rolled her eyes as she continued to walk. "Wasn't it you who said that the ghost couldn't leave its haunt?"

"Well, yeah… but…"

"But what? Come on and live a little!"

Danny smiled as he watched his two friends argue. Although he too was a little wary about being alone, he figured that nothing too bad could happen to them. Ignoring the ghost that appeared on Wednesday, Amity Park was usually a very safe place to live, even at night.

It was Sam who managed to once again convince them to come out at night. Though, this time, he wasn't exactly sure if it was to talk privately or just to get away from her parents. She had decided to have a sleepover at her house because she thought that they were out of town, but something had prevented them from going. He couldn't forget the look of horror she wore when they entered her impressively large house to find them waiting for her. In a way, it was apparent why she didn't like them too much; they were dressed very brightly and had an unusually sunny disposition making them the complete opposite of their daughter. After having dragged himself and Tucker into her room, she apologized, much to his surprise.

"So Danny," Sam said suddenly, catching his attention, "have you heard anything new about what's going on with your case?"

"No, not really… Winston had mentioned on the phone earlier that he was supposed to be going to a meeting for it today. I guess I'll find out tomorrow if anything happened," he replied with a shrug while trying to keep his voice neutral. Winston had kept saying that everything was fine, but a worried expression seemed to be appearing on his face more and more after getting off of the phone with anyone who had anything to do with the case.

"Well, that's good, isn't it?" Tucker asked, his voice betraying a strange mixture of hope and concern.

Danny shrugged and continued walking. Although it concerned him, without having a lot of information, he couldn't get too worked up about it. "So, pushing that aside, what's going on in the realm of the normal?" Little did he know how much trouble he would get into by Sam from just using the word 'normal'.

….

After a few hours of walking around the park and having Tucker continue to complain, the three of them decided to return to Sam's house. Although he couldn't be certain, he was fairly sure that it was after midnight. There was just something about the silence combined with the lack of cars or other people that suggested it.

There was something about the night that was concerning him. Perhaps it was the paranoia of everything else that had happened weighing down on him, but the shadows seemed to be darker and more defined than usual. The feeling of being watched was also present, though this time, he was unable to see any movement.

A cold chill ran through his body. Thinking it was just the wind, he hugged himself hoping to gain a little more warmth as they walked. "Dude, are you okay?" Tucker asked, surprising him.

"Yeah," he replied as he tried not to let his teeth chatter. "I'm just a little cold." His friends looked like they were about to shrug it off until he and they noticed that his breath was slowly becoming visible. He stared at the misty vapor as it formed for a moment before disappearing. Had it really gotten that cold?

After sharing a look, both Sam and Tucker grabbed his arms and began marching, for a better lack of a word, towards the entrance of the park. "Guys, stop! What's wrong with you?" he demanded as he yanked his arms out of their grip.

"Um, Danny, I don't know if you've noticed, but every time something weird happens to you, something weirder happens," Sam told him.

"And after hearing about what happened last time, I really don't want to be around when it does," Tucker continued.

He just stared at them. "What do you mean weird? It's just cold out here!"

"That's the thing. It's not the temperature that's cold, it's actually you," Sam tried to explain. "I don't know what it is, but you're skin's like ice, and I'm fairly certain that you weren't like that earlier."

Danny frowned as he looked at his hands. How was that even possible?

"Anyways," Sam told him with an uncertain tone as she gave him a slight push, "let's get you back to my house so that we can get you a blanket. No matter what other weird stuff is going on with you, it is probably not a good idea for you to continue to be that cold."

He grudgingly agreed and allowed himself to follow his friends. An uncomfortable silence fell between them as they walked, which really began to grate on his nerves. Okay, so he was cold. That was a problem how? Not all that strange. Falling through solid objects, on the other hand? That was a completely different matter.

As they approached the street a high pitched whine disturbed the night. He had just enough time after noticing the initial flash of light to make some sort of noise and tackle both of his friends to the ground. The sharp vibrations that followed verified his initial fears.

"What was that for?" Sam demanded as she pushed him off of her.

"You're welcome," he replied sarcastically as he stood up and glanced around. Something told him that was just the opening for something much larger.

"Um, guys…" A hand was tugging on his pant leg. Glancing down, he saw Tucker pointing at something. The boy's face was as white as a sheet, which was rather impressive for how dark his natural skin color was. Danny allowed himself to take a look and gasped. Where the three of them had been standing only moments before, the ground was warped and destroyed. Whatever that light had been, it was certainly strong and dangerous. He did not want to think about what could have happened if they hadn't moved.

The feeling of being grabbed startled him, but he quickly learned it was just Tucker using him as leverage to help stand back up. "What… what was that?" His voice was little more than a frightened squeak.

Danny did not replay immediately. Inwardly cursing that there weren't more lights in the park, he tried to find any sign of where the source could have been. There was absolutely nothing! No shadow, no further noise; just an eerie silence that was only broken by the sound of breathing. "I-I'm not sure…" he told his friends hesitantly as he turned back towards them. "But, we need to get out of here… Wait… what was that?"

A strange noise had broken through the silence and was quickly becoming louder. It was difficult to place what it could be, but it definitely had a metallic sound to it. But there was an unusual sort of hitching within the sound, which almost made it seem like it was laughing.

"Come on!" Sam's sharp tone brought him back to reality as she again tried pulling on him and Tucker. "I really don't think that we want to be around when that thing shows itself." She had just managed to get them moving again when another blast hit nearby sending them back to the ground.

He must have hit the ground pretty hard because the next thing he knew, Tucker was trying to shake him awake. "I'm okay…" Danny told his friend as he tried to push himself up. As he did, he could feel something wet beginning to run down his face. Great, he was bleeding, but he was going to have to push that aside, escaping was far more important.

After a few more heart pounding moments, the three of them had managed to get to the outskirts of the park. Taking a hesitant breather, they scanned the area hoping that they were free of whatever had just attacked them.

Thankful for the temporary break, Danny took the chance to wipe the blood off his face and out of his eye. If he was going to have to run again, he really did not want any other distractions. Grimacing at the sight of his blood covered hand, he realized that he was going to get the cut taken care of as soon as possible. He was also going to have to figure out what else had managed to get on his face. Although it was faint, there was an odd looking green color that had gotten mixed into it.

"Danny! Behind you!"

The fear in Sam's voice was nothing like he had ever heard before. Startled, he turned to see what was wrong and found himself face to face with the barrel of a gun.

"I have you now, ghost child."


	9. Shattered Impressions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny vs Skulker. Who will win?

"I have you now, Ghost Child."

Panic began to set in as Danny tried to rationalize the scene in front of him. A strange gun -which looked incredibly dangerous - was no more than a couple of inches away from his head. It seemed to be connected to the arm of what was best described as a very large metallic man, a robot maybe, which had a flaming green mohawk. If the situation did not look so bad, he probably would have made some sort of comment about its choice of 'hair'.

"You're puny," it told him after it used the muzzle of the gun to lift his chin, forcing him to look at its face. Danny was more than a little surprised to find its voice sounded relatively normal. There was no metallic interference. "It's hard to imagine you have the sort of power my employer thinks you do."

As he continued to nervously look the being in the eyes, he prayed for a distraction, anything that would take its attention away just long enough for him to escape from the gun's cool metal. With each passing moment, he was becoming more and more aware of how close it was to his neck. If the robot decided it was going to fire, there would be no escape.

"Interesting…" The unfamiliar voice of his captor caught his attention. Instead of focusing on him, it was now absorbed with something on its arm. A computer? No, that wouldn't make any sense. Why would a robot need a computer? Shouldn't it be able to do all its thinking, or whatever, in its head?

As if it knew he was staring, the robot turned away from its arm and gave him an evil grin. "My scanners indicate you certainly have the potential. Although my employer wants you alive, there's nothing in my contract that says I can't test your worth first." It stepped back as the gun on its arm began to whine as it raised the weapon to the level of his head. "Let the games begin!"

Until that moment in time, Danny never believed the stories of how time seemed to slow in life threatening situations. Knowing what was going to happen yet unable to turn away, he watched as a light from inside the barrel appeared. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears, alerting him to the danger and yet blocking out any other noise.

The force of an impact and a face full of dirt brought him back to the fast-paced world as a blast sounded from somewhere of to the side. Confused and not entirely sure if he was still alive, he glanced around and immediately caught the glare of an incredibly angry goth girl. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded as she pulled him off the ground. "If you didn't notice, that thing was aiming at your head!"

Still puzzled as to how he had fallen in the first place combined with resurfacing memories of the danger, he couldn't give her an answer as she began to lead him, as fast as possible, away from the danger. Although he was vaguely aware of Tucker was running beside them and the robot-thing was somehow chasing them from the air, nothing else was registering; even the explosions occurring at a faster and faster rate behind them, causing them to stumble and trip as they ran.

…

He wasn't sure how long they had been running, nor did he know exactly where they were. Looking around, he found himself in a small, dirty, and poorly lit alleyway which suggested to him that they were now in a rougher part of town. He had heard stories about places like this, Winston loved to scare him with those stories when he was younger, and hoped that this particular one would receive no other visitors. Though it was true he would rather deal with an actual person than the flying monstrosity they had hopefully lost, neither were welcome thoughts.

He glanced at his friends who were using the moment to catch their breaths. Tucker was sprawled out on the ground, seemingly too tired to do much else. Sam on the other hand, was still standing. It was clear she was just as tired as Tucker, but her alert posture told him she was not about to let her guard down. Danny couldn't blame her. Whatever had been chasing them had the ability to kill.

Why had it come after them –him- in the first place? Didn't the robot-thingy call him a ghost? Why? Weren't ghosts the spirits of those who had passed from life and had come back for one reason or another? He wasn't dead. The dried blood on his face from his cut was his proof. Someone who was dead couldn't bleed, right? Yet, the thing, the actual ghost, which had cornered him in the cemetery, said something similar. Hadn't it said he did not belong in 'this world' and he felt the call of the 'other side'?

He shook his head as he tried to push his thoughts away. With the situation at hand, there were more important concerns that required his attention.

"Hey, are you alright?" Tucker asked, causing Danny to jump.

"Huh? Yeah…" Danny rubbed his neck in embarrassment as he glanced at his friends. "Sorry, I was just thinking… Are you guys okay?" There was no immediate answer, which worried him. There was something off in the expressions of his two friends. It almost seemed like they weren't sure who he was. "Guys… you're starting to freak me out. What's wrong? Did I do something?"

"Danny… we're your friends, right?" There was a hesitance in Tucker's voice as he spoke. If Danny didn't know any better, it almost seemed as if the other boy was carefully choosing his words.

He had a feeling he was not going to like where the conversation was heading when he cautiously replied. "Yeah… But what's that got to do with anything?"

"Are you stupid or something?" Sam yelled, causing him to flinch. Now that her anger was completely directed at him, he understood why Tucker was afraid of her. "Danny, if we really are your friends then we have a right to know what's going on, especially if we might end up in danger. Now spill it! What was that thing? What does it want with you? What are you?"

His cautious confusion began to change into anger as he returned her glare. "Is that's what's wrong? Here I thought someone might have been hurt. Look, like I told you the last time, I have no idea what's going on! I've never even seen that thing before tonight, so how was I to know it had a vendetta against me?"

His expression softened after he finished. His outburst was enough to stem his anger, allowing him to relax just enough to plop down on the ground. He allowed himself to rest his arms on his knees before he spoke again. "I don't know how else to explain this to you… All of this craziness started a few weeks ago. Now that I think about it... Everything seemed to start right around the time I met you two…:"

"So you're saying this is our fault?"

Catching the warning tone in her voice, Danny held up his hands, hoping the gesture would prevent her from attacking him. "What? No! I'm not saying that at all! It's just it seemed to be the starting point of everything. Until then, I was perfectly normal."

"Normal? We were just chased and attacked by a flying metal robot! How is that normal?" As she spoke, Sam kept moving closer to where Danny was seated, and although he tried to scoot away from her, she reached down and grabbed him by the shirt. Knowing it was not a good idea to try and fight her, he allowed her to pull him up without a struggle. Her violet eyes bore into his icy blue ones as she continued to speak, almost daring him to do say something that would put her even further over the edge. "I don't know what's going on in your little world, Danny, but it's certainly anything but normal. Here we don't periodically fall through solid objects. Here we don't get chased by flying robots! Here people get exhausted when they are forced to run for their lives for fifteen minutes. Here we don't have people whose blood is two entirely different colors. Here…"

Danny pulled away as he cut her off. "Whoa, back up a minute. Different color blood? Where did that come from?"

"You're serious?" An incredulous expression crossed Sam's face.

"Yes, I'm serious."

"Sam, I'll take care of it," Tucker's voice was soft as he placed a hand cautiously on her shoulder. Although it was clear she was not done with her rant, Sam relented. Giving himself a moment to compose himself, Tucker sighed and adjusted his beret before he looked back over at Danny.

"Sam and I noticed it after we ran out of the park after the initial attack," Tucker told him as he warily locked eyes with him. "You had a cut above your eye, and at first I thought grass had gotten stuck to your face due to the blood and because you fell, but I realized that just didn't seem right. The green stuff was an unnatural color and seemed to be dripping down along with the regular blood. I'm surprised you didn't notice it."

Feeling uneasy, Danny reached up to touch the, thankfully, closed wound. He had thought those types of head injuries were supposed to bleed a lot… Maybe he hadn't been injured as badly as he initially thought. But, he still needed to test what his friends had said. Taking care to not completely reopen the cut, he carefully rubbed the fresh scab until he felt a trickle start to run down his face.

When he pulled his hand away, he was mortified by what it revealed. Blood is supposed to be a red so vivid that few natural colors can match it. There should not be any other color seen until it starts to dry, especially not a toxic, glowing green.

What was this stuff? It seemed to have the same consistency as his natural blood, but what would make it that color? Nothing came to mind as he watched the multi-colored liquid begin to mix into an ugly brown as it began to dry. Concerned, he used the back of his hand to wipe the injury above his eye, and once again, he pulled it back to find the same odd mix of colors.

He tried to say something as he frantically tried to get the foreign substance off his hand, but nothing intelligent came. The green stuff hadn't been there the previous week; he had fallen and scraped his knee pretty badly. He would have noticed a weird green tinge… so what changed? What was happening to him?

"So… I take this as an 'I didn't know'," Tucker stated as he watched Danny fall back to the ground as he continued to stare at his hand.

"I-I don't understand…" Danny's voice was nothing but a horrified whisper. "What am I turning into…?"

xxxxxx

"Sam, I don't think you can argue with that…" Tucker told her as the two of them watched their friend begin to shake as he wrapped his arms around himself, perhaps to give himself some sort of comfort. "You can't fake that kind of fear…"

"Oh, and you're suddenly the expert on that?" Sam snapped at him as she continued to watch the boy on the ground. Nothing about this made any sense, and it hadn't even since she had seen him get his leg stuck in the floor of his house. Whatever was happening to the boy was not possible, and the possibilities of the impossible were scaring her. Usually she was fine with the dark and morbid fantasies that frequented her mind, but they were far less appealing when they applied to the possible monster she had thought was her friend.

Momentary confusion caused her to glance over at Tucker as an unusual thought came to the forefront of her mind. "You know, you seem surprisingly okay with this," she told him carefully while watching his expression. "I would have thought you would have run screaming and not looked back a while ago…"

"Really? And here I would think that you'd be handling this sort of weirdness better than me. I mean, it is sort of your thing," he replied with a smirk. Although Sam was somewhat put off by it, she had to agree with him. Tucker's expression once again became serious as he looked back at Danny who had not moved. "I don't know what's going on… and you have no idea how badly that metal thing scared me earlier, but I don't think how I feel can even compare to how Danny does. And, even though I might regret this, I'm going to stick with him."

"But…"

"Sam, he's your friend too," Tucker interrupted as an uncharacteristic note of anger colored his voice. "I think your problem is you don't want to admit you're also scared."

She was going to argue back when she realized he was absolutely right. She was afraid, and if there was one think she couldn't stand above all else was her being afraid. Danny had never hurt her, and his expression had clearly told her every time he had denied having any information about the strange happening he was not lying. She had just wanted to pin the blame on him since there was no other outlet.

Not wanting to admit she was at fault, she slowly moved towards Danny and cautiously placed her hand on his shoulder. He jumped as he looked up at her. His eyes, that strange and unique crystal blue, briefly showed her the chaos and terror lurking beneath the surface before he seemed to regain himself. "Come on," she told him softly as she offered to help him up. "We need to head back to my house… My parents might have noticed we're gone." Danny did little more than nod as he accepted her hand.

"Do you really think it's safe? What if that thing is still around and follows us back?" Tucker asked her as he pulled out his PDA. She was actually surprised it had taken him so long to do so; usually he couldn't last a minute without it.

She gave him a troubled look. "Do you have any better ideas? We can't stay out here."

"Point taken… Well… according to my PDA, we've got a while to go before we can get back. All that running we did really got us off track…"

"Alright, we better hurry then. The faster we get back, the better."

"As long as we don't run, that's all fine and dandy." Sam sent a glare at Tucker, which he countered with mock version of his own. "What? We ran all the way here from the park, and unless we end up in mortal danger on the way back, there's no way I'm running again."

"Big baby."

"Well, I'm sorry we can't all be as athletic as you."

"You could be if you ate something else other than meat all the time."

"Hey! I take offense to that!"

Sam smiled as the confirmation she won this round appeared in Tucker's expression. She was about to say something else when Danny's soft voice interrupted. "Guys, is this really the best time for this…?" Surprised, she glanced over to see if he was okay. Although it was very clear he hadn't completely recovered from his scare, traces of humor could be seen in his eyes. That was a good sign. Well, at least she hoped it was.

xxxxxx

Although he was still more than a little freaked out, Danny was starting to feel a little better. Too much had happened in one day for him to worry about it, so he decided it would be better to push his concerns aside until the next morning. Maybe everything would make more sense, or maybe he and his friends would awaken to realize they had the craziest dream. He could certainly live with that.

He looked up as the three of them walked. The night was oddly clear making it perfect for stargazing. If it was any other night, he would gladly welcome it, but now the clear skies made him feel unusually vulnerable. Although they were making good time, they were still too far away from Sam's home than he liked. What he wouldn't give to be safe behind some sort of walls.

A sudden chill started to creep through his body, causing him to shiver, and his breath became momentarily visible before it disappeared in faint wisps. "Guys…" he said cautiously, breaking the temporary silence between them, as the chill swept through him again.

"Not this again! Didn't this happen right before…." Tucker's words were cut short as Sam placed her hand over his mouth. He quickly swatted it away and glared at her. "What was that for?"

In response, she returned his glare with one of her own, which caused him to shrink back. "Don't say it! You don't want to jinx us! Come on, let's pick up the pace! Maybe we can get back before…"

"Try all you want. You won't be able to make it back… alive."

Danny froze as he tried to pinpoint the origin of the voice. This was just too coincidental. Was that cold feeling some sort of warning?

"So…" Tucker whispered as he looked up as he finally spotted the robot, who was currently watching them from several feet above. "If we make a break for it, how far away will we get before it catches us?"

"Do you really think that you can continue to run from me, Skulker, the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter? Please, the three of you aren't even a challenge," it told them as it descended. "Although I could easily spend all night chasing after you, I'm on a schedule." It glanced over at Sam and Tucker and grinned as it produced a long glowing blade from its arm, "And you two are of no use to me."

He watched as the robot moved towards his friends in a manner that reminded him of a hunter stalking its prey. If they decided to run, he knew they were not going to be able to get away this time. This was all his fault! That thing, Skulker, was after him!

Danny had begun moving even before he realized it. "You leave them alone!" he thundered as he crashed into the robot. Stumbling backwards after the initial impact, he tried to refocus as the pain swam through his body. Okay, so running into a solid hunk of metal was not his smartest move, but at least it got the thing to focus back on him. "Sam, Tucker, run! Get away from here while you can!"

"How touching." Skulker's tone and expression hinted it was starting to become annoyed with the situation. Danny barely had time to register its movement before it attacked him. The punch to the gut immediately filled his mouth with the taste of blood which was intensified with the backhand which sent him reeling to the ground.

"To bad you're in no shape to help them." Even though his head was swimming, Danny managed to pick his head up just enough to see his tormentor standing over him. Its twisted smile was the only thing he could identify as his vision started to dim. "Maybe if you were stronger this would be a different story, but you'll never get that chance." With a laugh, it turned and started back towards his friends.

Why? Why did it have to end like this? There was nothing he could do anymore. He could hear his friends frantically calling his name. Why did they stay? Why didn't they run like he told them too?

He could feel the cold tears running down his face as he fought to stay conscious while his friends screamed for help. Dammit! Why was he so useless? He couldn't let them die!

A new sense of resolve flooded through him as he tried to push himself upright. His vision was still hazy, but he could just make out the shapes of his friends and the monster pursuing them. One of them was on the ground while the other was frantically trying to help. Skulker was not going to let them escape. Its hulking shape was standing over them with its blade raised.

"St-stop!" Danny stammered in a desperate plea. He had to get over there! He had to help them! "STOP IT!" As he yelled, an icy pain, completely different from his previous aches, and a thousand times worse coursed through his body. Yet, unlike the previous pain, this one seemed to make him more alert, and he managed to pull himself off the ground.

He could tell that his friends and Skulker were surprised by his sudden movements, but any further movements he saw were lost as another wave of pain over took him. It was almost as if it was consuming him – wrapping him in icy tendrils electrifying his body. With each icy wave, he could feel the life being leeched out of him replacing it with some sort of unknown power.

From somewhere deep in his mind, he understood that he could use this power, whatever it was, to help his friends. He would worry about the price he was paying for it later; now, he was going to give it everything to save them.

He yelled something at the metal being… what, he wasn't sure. Although he wasn't exactly sure how it reacted, he knew he had gotten its attention. In that stunned moment, he let the power direct his movements as if it was his marionette and charged the creature. Instructions seemed to be flowing into him as he dodged and deflected the blows coming from the metal monstrosity.

He had to get in close; that was the only way to end the fight. Skulker's movements were becoming harder to dodge as the seconds ticked by. He couldn't tell if this was because Skulker was starting to clue into his movements or if it was because the power had been circulating through him was starting to fade from his body.

It was then that he saw it, an opening. Skulker had swung at him just a little too hard, causing its recovery to be a just a little longer. In that brief moment, he placed both of his hands on the creature's metal chest and concentrated. The power that had been swirling beneath the surface of his skin, giving him strength, flowed into his hands and concentrated itself. When the intensity of it threatened to harm him, he pushed it out of him with as much force as he could muster. The result was an intense flash of green light that knocked both him and his opponent back.

Regaining himself, he just managed to catch the sight of Skulker grasping at the hole in its chest as he turned and ran towards his terrified friends. Knowing that he hadn't done enough to put Skulker down for the count, he grabbed them and tried to lead them away. A strange feeling, different from the others that had plagued his body in the last couple hours, flooded his body. The next thing he knew, the three of them were standing in the road in front of Sam's house.

He had no idea how he had managed to get them back so quickly. As he let his friends go, his world began to spin. Pain was gnawing at his body, pulling him into darkness. The last thing he thought before his face met the pavement was to wonder if this was what dying felt like.


	10. Aftermath

"So… What do you think he is?" Tucker asked her as they made their way to the kitchen to grab some lunch. It was about noon, and since Danny was still not awake -or showed any signs of waking, he had decided to put food on the top of his priority list. "Don't get me wrong. I'm thankful Danny went all glowy and beat that thing, but something that weird… And you got to admit, it was pretty weird…. Couldn't have come from a human."

"'Glowy'?" Sam asked while trying not to laugh. Oddly enough, it did help to lighten her bad mood brought on by exhaustion, fear, and paranoia. After Danny had somehow magically transported them back to her front yard and passed out, she and Tucker managed to sneak back into her house while carrying him and make it into her room undetected by her parents. Tiring as that and the chase from earlier was she was unable to convince herself they were safe and began constantly checking the window for any signs of the creature. Needless to say, by morning, she hadn't been able to fall asleep.

He just shrugged as he opened the large kitchen door and allowed Sam to pass through first. "I don't know what else to call it. I guess 'luminous' could work, but it doesn't really fit either."

"And 'glowy' does?"

"Probably not, but at least it's specific."

Though she would never admit it out loud, he did have a point. When Danny had taken a stand against the monster, ghost… whatever it actually was, it almost looked as if tendrils of greenish-white energy was wrapping around him. As it became more noticeable, it gave his body the illusion it was actually glowing. Even more startling was the change in his eyes and hair color. His eyes changed to a toxic shade of green which shouldn't exist in this world, and his hair had become a brilliant shade of white with a silvery sheen. After Danny had passed out, the white color seemed to seep out, leaving behind his naturally black hair after a couple minutes. Hopefully his eyes had returned to their natural color too.

"Anyway… what do you think we should take up to Danny?" By the time he spoke, Tucker had already started putting together a rather impressive lunch meat and mayo sandwich on one of the white marble counters. While Sam could not even look at the growing monstrosity, she was impressed by the knowledge he had of her kitchen. He had been over way too many times.

She thought for a moment as she searched one of the polished mahogany cabinets for some supplies of her own. "Well… probably bland foods like toast or rice would be best. Since he tends to get sick after anything weird happens to him, those are the only types of food that shouldn't cause any problems…"

"I didn't… even think about that…" he replied between chews, much to Sam's dismay. "Whatever that power… or weirdness is, it really seems to do a number on him."

"Yeah… and let's just hope it doesn't kill him in the process."

This particular episode had been particularly bad for Danny. Before carrying him into the house, she had checked his vital signs only to find no sign of life. His pulse was nonexistent, his breathing had ceased, and his body was freezing to the touch. Both of them had begun to panic and tried to remember what they could of CPR. Luckily for Tucker -what was it with guys and CPR? - Danny let out a shaky breath even before they got a chance to start.

Unsure what to make of the situation, they just stood there, dumbfounded, for a moment before deciding to take the seemingly unconscious and not dead boy into the house. If it was any other person, she would have called an ambulance without a second thought, but there was no way such strange events could be explained or probably even treated by a doctor. Besides, if he seemed fine now, it was unlikely a doctor would be able to do anything. Originally, they decided whoever woke up first would make sure Danny was still among the living, but with her being unable to sleep she checked on him regularly. His breathing and pulse seemingly remained steady, but his body, though a little warmer, still remained very cool to the touch; Combined with his naturally pale skin kept causing her to compare him to a cadaver.

An awkward tension filled the air for a moment while they made their lunches. Unnerved, Sam was about to say something, but a strange look from Tucker stopped her. "What's wrong?"

"Sam… this might sound weird, but what if that's the point? What if this power that's taken hold of him really is going to kill him?" he asked as he put his sandwich down and looked her in the eyes. "Didn't Danny say something before about how the ghost you two saw in the cemetery said that he didn't belong to this world? And didn't it also suggest he didn't have a lot of time left? And didn't that thing that chased us last night call him 'Ghost Child'…. I don't know about you, but it just seems like, if you think about it, everything's suggesting he's going to die."

"Tucker, how can you say something like that?" she snapped while trying to prevent any emotion, save for anger, from crossing her face. During her vigil, similar thoughts had crossed her mind, but she tried to completely ignore them. She had noticed Danny always seemed drained and weak after the power manifested, almost as if his 'energy or' life was its power source. It seemed quite possible it could kill him if it continued, but the cryptic hints they kept getting suggested maybe that was what the power needed.

No! She wasn't going to think like that! Nothing as horrible as that was going to happen to Danny. They were going to somehow figure out how to help him, and she didn't need such terrible thoughts floating around her mind. She cringed as she once again tried to suppress them. Having the idea be said aloud seemed to somehow confirm it, even with absolutely no proof. "Let's just focus on finishing so we can get back to Danny. I wonder if he's awake yet…"

"If you say so… but before we do that, can you please explain why your toaster's floating?"

Sam had to chuckle as she watched Tucker begin to panic and quickly put space between him and unassuming yet levitating toaster. Glancing at it to make sure it was actually plugged in and in use; she shrugged and moved over to retrieve its contents. "It's from Denmark. This usually happens."

"Wait… what?"

….

Surprisingly, when they returned to Sam's room, Danny was awake and sitting up on the deep purple bed. He looked terrible. His blue eyes were dull, and the dark rings under them attested to just how tired he really was. His body was also incredibly sore and stiff, but nothing more seemed to be wrong with him. Sam couldn't help but be relieved. As she watched him thankfully accept the tray of food, it seemed as if there would be no lasting problems from the night's events.

After finishing his light meal, Danny hesitantly asked what happened the previous night. Unsure where to start, she looked to Tucker for some help, and within a few minutes, the combined effort of the two got him up to speed. He accepted it silently, though Sam did notice he kept looking down at his hands. It was almost as if he was checking to make sure they still looked the same. It unnerved her slightly, but she tried to push it aside as she suggested a good break from all the weirdness would be a monster movie marathon. Both Danny and Tucker gave her looks suggesting they questioned her sanity, but after a few minutes of persuasion and a mention of the room sized television in the entertainment room, they happily changed their minds.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

It was official. The best way to recover from a mysterious paranormal fight was to sit and watch movies in Sam's gigantic theater. Not only did Danny get to relax in some of the most comfortable chairs he had ever encountered, but the ability to laugh with his friends as they poked fun at the terrible effects further alleviated the stress weighing down on him. Surprisingly, they were able to get through three movies without being interrupted.

After glancing at fancy clock hanging from the wall, he realized it was almost dinner time. "Hey, I should probably be getting home soon. Knowing Winston, he'll be getting worried."

"Do you think you're up to walking home?" Sam asked as she gave him an appraising glance. "You're welcome to stay another night."

A chuckle escaped him as he thought about her parents' reactions to the suggestion. Although he had only briefly met them, something told him the couple was already not too fond of him. "I think I can handle it." That was an obvious lie. His body still felt as if he had been put inside of an industrial dryer on spin mode, but how else was he going to get home? He didn't want to impose on Sam, Winston would start asking questions, and he certainly didn't have the money to call a taxi. "Besides, the walking might help with the stiffness."

"Or it could make it worse. Seriously dude, you should be taking it as easy as you can. Kicking some serious butt can be really tiring." Tucker's tone was playful and encouraging, but Danny knew he was trying to hide his own concerns about the strange event. Judging by how Sam and Tucker were acting when they entered the room after he woke up, the two most likely had a serious conversation about what happened. Though they tried to make him feel as if nothing was wrong, he could sense their worry.

He was about to start arguing but Sam quickly cut him off. "If you really think you should leave, at least I can do is to have my driver give you a ride home. I mean, you did save our lives."

"Thanks… but are you sure..? Wait, you have your own driver?" he asked, unsure if he had heard her correctly.

Sam fidgeted for a moment before answering. "Well, he's technically one of the drivers for my family, but I'm on better terms with him than my parents…. So, he's kinda unofficially mine."

"There's more than one…? Never mind." He cut himself off after a moment. "I don't want to know the specifics." The lives of the rich were hard to comprehend.

…..

After about a half an hour, the three of them were in the back of a stretch limo complete with its own mini bar stocked with several foreign drinks. Neither Sam nor Tucker actually needed to come, but they refused to let him go home alone. Danny just figured it was their way of showing concern. Though he didn't really need it, he didn't mind as their presence made the short ride more enjoyable.

When he arrived home, he was expecting a quite scene. Winston's silver Chevy would be sitting in the driveway, and while Winston himself would either be tending his modest garden or doing some paperwork in the study. But, instead of normalcy, chaos greeted him.

Yellow police tape had been placed around the perimeter of the yard and across the open front door. Several police cars were sitting, not only in front of the house, but also in his and the neighbor's driveway. A few officers were standing in the yard talking to each other while wearing serious expressions. Another was entering the house along with a couple people in white uniforms. Before the limo could even come to a stop, Danny jumped out of it and ran to the house, only to be stopped by some of the officers.

"I'm Danny, Winston's charge," he nearly shouted after one of the officers grabbed him while trying to explain he could not enter a crime scene. "What happened? Where's Winston? Does he know? Is he alright?"

"Wait, you're Wolf's kid?" another office asked as he approached. "We put out an alert saying you were missing. So you weren't in the house last night?"

"No, I…"

"Excuse me, Sir," Sam interrupted as she and Tucker ran over. "Danny was with us last night. He was staying over my house."

"He's not in trouble, is he?" There was a noticeable shiver within Tucker's voice, but he was doing his best not to show any other sign of nervousness. "Because we can totally vouch for him! We were with him for most of the day yesterday."

The officer held up his hand as a signal to let him talk. A trouble look crossed his face as he removed his hat and ran his free hand through his graying hair. After collecting himself, he held his hand out for Danny to shake. "I wish we could have met under friendlier circumstances, but I'm Sergeant Ross. We were called to your house after one of your neighbors called in some concerns about the safety of your dad. They thought they had heard gun shots last night but shrugged it off until they realized they never saw him leave the house today. We even received a confirmation from his work that he never arrived."

Danny bit his lip as he listened quietly. Winston almost never missed work, even if he was very sick. So, knowing that, something had to have gone seriously wrong, and Danny wasn't exactly sure if he was ready to find out what.

"I hate to say it, but it was a good thing we did decided to check on him," Ross continued as he looked him in the eye. "Your dad's currently in J. Marley Central Hospital and is being treated for several severe injuries from… what we think was a home invasion."

"No... That's impossible…" Danny stuttered after a few confused moments. "Winston's an ex-marine… He would have fought back. No one could have done that much damage…"

"Son, take it easy. This isn't the time for this…"

"You don't understand! Winston can take care of himself! There's a gun under his mattress for goodness' sake! He's always been prepared for something like this to happen! Some lame burglar couldn't have put him in the hospital!"

"Wait… did you say that Wolf owned a gun?" Ross asked carefully. "What kind was it?"

"I'm not exactly sure…. It's not like I saw it every day or anything," he replied gruffly as he tried to keep his feelings quelled long enough to try and answer the question. It wasn't like the officer had anything to do with Winston being hurt, but he certainly didn't want to be answering any questions. "I know it's some type of hand gun…. Maybe it's a .28… The box of bullets was sitting in the shelf on the study."

A concerned expression crossed the Sergeant's face as he called over to another officer. "Have any of the men found a firearm in or around the premises?" When the man shook his head, Ross' expression became grim. He then told the man to grab a couple of the other officers and search the area again, as well as finding a record of Winston's gun registration. After the other officer left, Ross turned back to Danny. "Well, I can't say I'm pleased by this new information… But I'm glad you mentioned it." He gave the boy a searching look before he spoke again. "I'm going to need to take you down to the precinct so you can give your official statement and maybe answer a few questions. Then we're going to need to go through your house and see if anything has been stolen."

"Wait… now?" Danny half demanded, half choked. "You're not going to let me see Winston first?"

"He's in the hospital…"

"You told me that, but you haven't told me anything else!" He had to fight to keep his voice and hands under control. Something in the back of his mind told him the officer would not appreciate it if he started waving his hands around while he was agitated. "Winston's all I have! I need to see for myself just how bad it is. I'll answer any question you have afterwards, but please, please let me see him first!"

"I can't let you do that."

"Why? Wait… I know what's going on… You think I did this." His eyes narrowed as he pointed at the officer. "I can't believe you! You're supposed to be trying to find whoever did this to Winston! Instead, you're wasting your time looking at me. I wasn't even home last night!" He took a breath to try and calm down for a moment as Tucker put his hand on his shoulder in a comforting gesture. With each breath, he could feel himself shaking in rage. "If anything, you should be looking at that Masters guy…"

It was the officer's turn to be suspicious. "…You don't mean Vlad Masters, do you?"

"I think so… He and Winston don't seem to get along…"

"And don't forget! He's the one who snuck into your house that one day!" Tucker added as he gave a shudder. "That's the day we heard Mr. Wolf yelling. No offense dude, but he's really frightening when he's mad."

"Tell me about it…"

"Back up a minute," the officer interrupted while rubbing his eyes. "You're telling me, Vlad Masters broke into your house. What business does someone like him have in your house?"

Could this officer be any more irritating? Danny had to bite back a sarcastic reply as he answered the officer. "He said he was checking up on Winston since he had to reschedule a meeting… with I guess one of his assistants. According to him, our front door was open, and he went inside to make sure everything was okay." As the officer wrote down something on a little tablet that was pulled out of his pocket, Danny decided he had enough. "Look! I'll answer any of your questions later, but I'm not doing anything else until I get to see Winston!"

….

After a twenty minute standoff, Danny finally got his way. An irritated Sergeant Ross had escorted him to the hospital after finally realizing he wasn't going to get any answers. After the two stepped into the waiting area, he ran to the nearest available teller and practically demanded to know where Winston was being treated. After an agonizingly slow few minutes, he finally got an answer.

In retrospect, running as fast as he could through the halls was probably one of the worst things he could do in the hospital, but he really didn't care. He easily managed to avoid any obstacle he encountered. Who knew there would be so many movable computers, monitors, and people in those maze-like hallways? When he finally reached Winston's room, he was met with a wall of people. Several doctors all wearing dark expressions seemed to be deep in discussion as they blocked the only door into the room.

Unsure how to interrupt the doctors, he was happy to realize Winston's room had a window. Peeking in, he felt his breath hitch as he realized just how serious the attack on his guardian had been. Winston was unconscious and hooked up to a respirator. Several monitors were hooked up to the man, and two IV bags, one of blood and one of clear fluid, were also put in place. What little bit of skin was not covered by bandage or machine looked bruised and swollen. The overall image made Winston look like he was fragile enough to break if he was touched. Danny had to try and hold back tears as he wondered who could have done such a thing.

"How the hell did you get here so fast?" an out of breath voice asked from somewhere behind him making him jump. He turned around to see a rather winded Sergeant Ross giving him a searching look. "I couldn't go more than a few feet without out running into something."

Danny didn't say anything as he turned back towards the window. He didn't want to have Winston out of his sight for more than a few minutes. He just had this feeling something terrible would happen if he did.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but are you part of Winston's family?" A person wearing a white coat came into the periphery of his vision. Curious, he turned to see a young female doctor extending her hand to him. "I'm Dr. Sabo, and I'm currently in charge of managing him while he's here."

He hesitantly took her hand and explained who he was. "How… how is he?" Even he could hear the unease in his voice.

"That's the big question, isn't it?" Dr. Sabo frowned as she looked towards the window. "I hate to say it, but it's hard to tell at this point. Winston received several odd wounds from the attack."

"Odd…? How so?" the sergeant asked, surprising both Danny and the doctor.

She bit her lip as she tried to find the words to describe her thoughts. "It's the first time any of us have seen wounds like that. They almost seem to be large bullet wounds, but the edges of them act more like burns. And, to make matters worse, we were unable to locate any residual bullets there might have been. We're really at a loss for what happened to him."

"Will he be able to answer any questions?"

"I'm not sure. Winston, although stable, is in a terrible condition. He's going to have to be watched very carefully over the next several days. We're going to do our best to see that he heals, but it will be up to his body to make sure he recovers. From what I can see of him, he appears to be in very good shape for his age, so we're hopeful… but, you can never tell."

The world started to spin as Danny listened to the doctor go into more details about Winston's condition with the sergeant. He allowed himself to slide down the wall and sit as he tried to get some sort of grasp on the situation. He never thought he would be in this situation. He had once joked that Winston was too strong to ever be taken down by anything other than a renegade bus, but this had shown him Winston was human, just like everyone else.

Danny couldn't take it anymore. In an uncharacteristic moment of weakness, he buried his face in his hands and allowed the tears to come. It was a small comfort, but if he was going to have to deal with the police over the next several hours, he was going to need to be as strong as possible.

=====================================================================================

Anyways, a couple things:

J. Marley Central Hospital is not a real place… at least I think so. I named it to keep in line with the ghost theme of the show. Jacob Marley was the first ghost who appeared to Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

Dr. Sabo and Sergeant Ross aren't all that important. They're really only there for this section

And, can I just say that hospitals are the most confusing things on earth? Cuz, they are. There are at least fifteen hospitals within an hour and a half of my house, and all of them are mazes. The floor plans are ridiculous. You can't walk through them without encountering workers, movable computers and/or other medical devices, and let's not forget the robots. Don't ask about that last one. It is really funny to see them having a Mexican standoff though.


	11. Alternative Paths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Questions from the police, and Vlad makes his move

The police officers told him they needed to ask him a few questions. What they forgot to mention was he would be locked in a small, remarkably bare room for five hours with a police officer who was dead set in viewing him as a suspect. Danny had never been more relieved to get out of a room before in his life. Yeah, he understood family members needed to be questioned due to the statistics surrounding such crimes, but seriously! Did someone as scrawny as him really look like he could have hurt Winston that badly without getting any sort of injury in the process?

However, he couldn't really blame them for being suspicious, especially when it came to his whereabouts the previous night. How do you rationally explain you were chased by a murderous robot-ghost-thing? The obvious answer was to avoid the topic all together. He hoped he was convincing enough when he said he and his friends had taken a walk in the evening and returned to Sam's house to watch some movies. He specifically avoided mentioning the park. There was no telling what the officers would think if they learned he might have been around when it got torn up. He was actually kind of surprised no one in the precinct had mentioned it.

A few times during his interview, he had nervously flattened his bangs a few times, hoping to hide the cut he had suddenly remembered getting at the beginning of his terrifying adventure. The officer interviewing him had noticed the motion, which caused him to leave it alone the rest of the time he was in the room. Surprisingly, Danny wasn't asked about it. A little wary after he was finished and allowed to exit the room, he touched the spot only to find smooth skin. It took a lot of self-control to not dash to a reflective surface and examine his forehead. There was no use in making the officers more suspicious. As weird as a missing cut was he could wait until he got home to check.

Scratch that… he could check after he found a place to stay for a while. As he was about to exit the station, an older officer kindly reminded him of the fact his house was currently considered a crime scene. After apologizing for a lack of effort from the staff for trying to contact his family and promising to personally look into it in the morning, he directed Danny to a nearby phone situated at the front desk.

Danny was a little surprised at the kind attitude of the officer as he had been dealing with a special type of dick for the past several hours, but it was a nice change. Shaking his head a little, he moved to the phone to call Sam, praying she was still awake as it was approaching midnight. Both of his friends told him they wanted an update, but with it being late and he being emotionally, physically, and mentally drained, the only topic he wanted to discuss involved where he would be staying for the night.

As he was dialing her number, the door to the station opened and a tall man strolled in. The newcomer was tall and rather thin. He wore a clean black business suit which appeared to be expertly cared for and rather expensive. Gray hair had been slicked back into a neat ponytail, and calculating cold blue eyes surveyed his surroundings. Danny dropped the phone in surprise as he realized the man in front of him was the one and only Vlad Masters.

The sound from the phone brought him to Masters' attention, causing the man to adopt an unsettling grin. "Why here you are! I've been looking all over for you!" The tone of his voice and his expression adopted a semblance of concern, but it did not reach his eyes. "I was so worried after I found out what happened to Winston. My condolences, but I'm glad you're safe and sound."

"Don't talk about Winston like he's dead!" Danny snapped. "Look, can you just go away? If you haven't realized, it's been a pretty bad day for me, and I don't feel like talking to you right now."

"Of course. How inconsiderate of me. After everything you've been through today, you must be exhausted. Come, I'll make sure you're well taken care of."

It took Danny a moment to grasp the implications of Vlad's statement. "Wait… what? There's no way I'm going with you!"

"Poor boy, you must be more tired than you realize." The businessman pinched the bridge of his nose as he let out a dramatic sigh. "Don't you remember? It was determined that you would be placed into my care if anything were to happen to Winston."

"That's news to me!"

"Excuse me, but what exactly is going on here?" The sound of the officer's voice made him jump. He had forgotten there was another soul in the room. However, he couldn't be more relieved. Being in the room alone with the businessman was an unnerving thought. It was even more relieving when he realized the officer seemed to be equally suspicious.

In a truly professional manner, Vlad introduced himself and explained his relationship to Danny as well as his involvement in the custody battle. Again, he mentioned how he was now to act as a guardian in Winston's stead.

"I already told you, I'm not going anywhere with you!" Danny growled as he glared at the man. Something was very wrong with the picture. Winston didn't trust Vlad, and there was no way he would let him fall into the billionaire's hands.

"You have to forgive the boy. We had a little spat the last time we saw each other, and I'm afraid he hasn't forgiven me," Vlad apologetically explained to the officer.

"Spat? You broke into my house?"

Before Vlad could respond, the officer held up his hand to halt the brewing argument. "Mr. Masters, do you have some sort of proof you can take the boy?" Vlad's expression quickly changed from shocked to insulted as the officer spoke. "Surely a man of your standing can understand our position. With the way Mr. Wolfe was attacked, we cannot rule anyone out as a potential suspect. With you being involved in a custody battle and Danny's status as a minor, we are rather uncomfortable sending him on his way like this. I'm also fairly certain you weren't notified of the situation…" The officer's eyes narrowed as he appraised the man. "Which leads me to wonder how you found out."

"One of my staff members was going to drop off some papers at the house when she saw the police cars and asked what happened" Vlad explained with an impatient air. "But that's not important right now…"

As he watched Vlad begin to argue with the officer, Danny couldn't help but feel a rush of gratitude. For whatever reason, the officer did not seem to believe Vlad's story and generally seemed concerned for his wellbeing.

Everything seemed to be going in his favor when Danny was nearly bowled over by a sudden blast of cold air rushed by him. Startled, he started looking around to find some possible source… and open window, a vent, something to explain it. While he tried to wrack his brains for some other answer when the normal explanations were ruled out, he noticed the officer stumble slightly. He didn't think anything of it until the man rubbed his forehead and excused himself for a moment.

Rather unsettled by the officer's display and being left alone with Vlad, Danny moved back to the phone to attempt to resume his call. Though he was able to reach Sam's house this time, a presumed butler answered and informed him that "Miss Samantha is asleep and no longer taking calls for the night." While Danny was pretty sure it was a lie, he went with it and asked the man to give a message to her when he could.

Displeased by the turn of events, he was about to try calling Tucker when the officer returned to the room. Something did not seem right as he looked at him. The man's posture seemed stiff, and his eyes were unfocused and reddish. Wait… Danny blinked and rubbed his eyes before checking again. The man's eyes were actually red! Weren't they brown before?

"Sorry for the inconvenience." The officer's voice had an unusual mechanical quality to it… almost as if the words he was saying weren't actually his. He held up a document of some sorts as he spoke again. "It seems like someone did verify this earlier, but just forgot to place it somewhere it could be found."

"Does this mean everything's in order?" Vlad asked with a voice filled with hardly concealed delight.

"Yes. You can take the boy. We'll be in touch within the next few days to let you know how Wolfe is doing."

"Splendid! Come on my boy, it's time to go!"

Danny backed away as Vlad beckoned to him, nearly tripping over the desk in the process. His mind was screaming all sorts of warnings at him. The entire situation felt wrong, but he had no idea how to escape it. Vlad was blocking his way to the front door, and he doubted the few officers left in the building would appreciate a desperate search for the rear exit.

"What did you do to him?" he demanded as his eyes darted between both men before he pointed at Vlad. He knew he probably wasn't going to get an answer, but he hoped he could stall the man long enough to come up with some sort of plan.

"Pardon me? Whatever do you mean?"

"Y-you know what I mean!" While he tried to keep the anger in his voice, it was quickly giving way to panic. Vlad kept moving towards him wearing an increasingly predatory expression which was really creeping him out. Strangely, the thought of accidently falling through the wall crossed his mind. Unsettling as it was, it was a far better situation than the one he was currently in. "The officer's not acting right!"

Vlad replied, but his words were drowned out as a strange coldness started to seep into his body, quickly filling every aspect. He tried to escape, thinking it was somehow tied to where he was standing, but his legs wouldn't respond. They felt heavy and strangely detached; his arms were beginning to feel the same way. He tried to yell out without any success. He soon realized his mind was being pushed further away from the sensations of his body and into something like a dark crevasse to be stored and forgotten.

But the coldness was not finished. It briefly brushed against his mind and seemed to whisper in an almost familiar voice, "Relax… It'll be safer for you and me if you do…"

Danny's last conscious thought before the darkness completely took him was to wonder if he was ever going to wake up.

….

When he came to, Danny found himself lying on his back and staring at an unfamiliar white ceiling. His mind felt groggy and his body heavy. Though he wasn't sure, he felt as if he had been asleep for quite some time. Sitting up, he tried to remember how he got where he was… only, he didn't know where that might be.

Looking around, he realized something wasn't right. The room he was in was rather large. It was a bedroom, not much different from Sam's, only it didn't have any posters or the same dark decorations. In fact, the room was mostly white save for some wooden furniture. Even the four-poster bed he was sitting on had a white comforter and curtains. The only real decoration in the room was a painting on the wall directly across from him which seemed to show military conquest with… a paranormal influence. It was rather grotesques.

The blank room gave him an uneasy feeling. Although it definitely wasn't, it gave him the feeling he was in a jail of sorts. Unnerved, he slowly got up and moved to the room's single window. After moving the curtains aside, he cursed as he realized the glass was heavily frosted, preventing him from seeing any scenery. His next move was to try the door, but it was locked.

After a panicked few minutes trying everything he could think of to attempt to open the door, he placed his back against the door and slid down it. What was he going to do? The better question was what was going to happen to him? With the room being blank, it gave him no indication of what he should expect. He should, he supposed, be thankful for it, but the wait might be too much for him to handle. What was the old adage? The suspense is worse than the actual event? He really hoped that wouldn't be the case.

xxxxxx

The sound of one of her parents calling for her to come into the downstairs wafted through the room, however, Sam was dead set on ignoring the summons. There were far more important things on her mind than dealing with whatever new 'daughter improvement project' they had come up with.

She was incredibly worried about her friend who neither she nor Tucker had heard from in a little over two days. At first she thought it might be due to being overwhelmed by suddenly finding out the man who raised him had been severely attacked and/or the police being jerks, but a call earlier in the day really concerned her.

She had been thinking about calling the police in the morning (while skipping class due to a feigned illness), however they beat her to the punch. Around eleven, she had received a call from one of the detectives asking her if she had heard from Danny. She told him no right before demanding to know what was wrong. Though it took a little bit of coaxing (and a reminder of her parents' influences), the officer admitted they had no idea where the boy was. He disappeared after his interview with another officer, and though they hated to admit it, after failing to contact him or anyone else who might have the boy, he was being labeled as a missing person. Her immediate response was to insult the competence of him and the rest of the force as the boy had gone missing from underneath their noses, but after she calmed down a bit, she promised to help in whatever way she could.

Sam sat down on her large purple clad bed and stared up at one of the posters on the ceiling as she tried to understand the situation. Her friend, who seemed to attract terrible and odd events, was now missing. Danny had tried to contact her the night he disappeared, but her family had forbidden her from further calls when she had returned home that night after they learned about the attack on Winston. Somehow, they had gotten the notion whatever had harmed Winston could attack her if she continued to talk to Danny. Though it was kind of nice to know they cared, they had taken it way overbroad.

But what was strange about the situation was there was no security image of Danny leaving the precinct. The officer had explained to her they had installed cameras a while back after someone had tried to break in to the office in an attempt to steal their guns. Due to safely concerns, they regularly had them checked, but the night Danny disappeared, they had a major malfunction. There was an image of him entering the entrance area, but after a few minutes, the image distorted so badly they could not make heads or tails of it. It also seemed to return to normal rather suddenly after a while, but Danny was long gone by then.

A look at the clock told her she was going to have to wait a while before she could contact Tucker. Unlike her, he had been forced to go to school. She had no idea if he already knew Danny was missing, but no matter what, he was going to help her try to find him. Tucker was the probably the only person in town who could possibly get an image off of the damaged security tape, and the only other person (besides her) who Danny had trusted with his issues. They had to try and do what they could to help him.

…

"So, any luck?" Sam asked the boy currently sitting on her rug surrounded by any number of other electronic equipment. He had been staring at the screen of his PDA with an intense look for quite some time.

She had managed to contact Tucker mere moments after he was finished with his classes for the day and explained the situation. After freaking out a bit, he told her he would be over soon after he made a quick stop. He arrived about forty minutes later looking more determined than he had ever seen him while carrying a bookbag filled to the brim with tech supplies she had never seen before. After asking if he needed anything, Tucker quickly went to work with his task.

"…Whoever did this to this footage is really good…" he eventually replied after a few more minutes of silence.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked hesitantly. It was rare to hear such a tone in Tucker's voice when it came to technology. He could usually work his way around a system in a few seconds, minutes if it was more complicated, but this was really causing him problems.

"It's hard to explain… Usually, people just modify existing images when they don't something seen, but this guy actually managed to replace some of the footage with an error screen…"

"So… it's gone… Like completely, gone? You can't trace it or anything?" There was no way for her to hide the hint of panic in her voice. If Tucker couldn't bring up anything, no one could… which meant they weren't going to have anything to use to find Danny.

A small laugh escaped Tucker, which caused her to stare at the boy. "Jeez, Sam, you shouldn't think so little of me. Who do you think I am? This guy, though good, made a small mistake. I guess he got interrupted or something because he started just covering up the image after a while instead of changing it. To most people, it's nearly impossible to catch, but it's there. Just give me a little bit of time…."

"A little bit of time?" Sam repeated as she watched him frantically work with his PDA. "How long are we talking about?"

He hit a few more buttons on the screen before he looked up and smiled. "Does 'now' work for you?"

"Tucker, you're amazing!"

"I know, I know. But it's nice to have my fans remind me."

Sam pulled down his hat in response as she sat next to him on the floor. "Anyways, do you have the entire footage?"

"I couldn't get part of it due to the replacement… but it looks like a little less than half was just modified…. So, let's see what no one wanted us to find…." He pressed a button on the screen and a fuzzy image began to appear. On the footage, they could see Danny backing away from someone standing near the door. It was difficult to make out, but judging from Danny's posture, he did not seem to be happy to see the person. After a little bit, Danny stopped retreating and followed the unknown man out the door.

Without any prodding, Tucker tried to see if he could clear the image a little or at least clear up the image of the suspect. After frantically trying several different techniques, he sighed and rubbed his eyes with his free hand. According to him, even though the person had changed methods, they were still able to damage the rest of the footage.

"I'll continue to work with it when I get home," he promised. "This is going to require some big guns for me to get something useful out of this. But don't worry; I'm not going to give up. After he saved our lives, I think this is the least I can do for him."

…..

Tucker had been booted from the house as soon as Sam's parents caught him being there. Thinking back, she was a little surprised he had managed to sneak past them in the first place since they were particularly good at catching people going up to her room. They had punished her in response by having her stay in her room for the rest of the night, which didn't bother her in the least bit.

Around seven in the evening she received a call on her cell. Noticing the number, she picked it up as quickly as possible, hoping her parents didn't hear it ringing. "Did you find anything?" she asked the caller as a form of greeting. The caller's reply was spoken too quickly and frantically for her to understand. "Whoa, slow down Tucker! I can't understand you!"

"Sam… it's worse than we thought!" came his panicked reply. "I managed to identify who was in the police station with Danny."

"Yeah? Well, who was it?"

"It was… Vlad Masters…."

Sam barely registered the phone slipping from her fingers and landing on the floor. How could she be so stupid? She knew that man had an interest in getting hold of Danny and should be the first logical suspect, but she didn't realize he would have stooped so low.

Angry with herself, she reached down to grab her phone so she could calm a frantic Tucker but stopped midway as a thought crossed her mind. How were they going to be able to get Danny back from a man who had mastered in lies with an unimaginable fortune to back him up?

====================================================================

I just wanted to point out that the way these officers are depicted is due to experience. The ones in the borough where I grew up were usually nice, but if they had it in their minds you did something wrong, you could be treated like trash. But at the same time, they're the reason why my childhood bully wasn't excepted into the NFL because they slapped him with assault charges when he decided to get into a fight while he was in his 20s. I have mixed feelings. The officers from the neighboring borough were wonderful.


	12. Entrapment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Formulating a way to escape but Vlad gets impatient

It was difficult to tell how much time had passed since he had been in the room. There was no apparent clock, even if he could swear he could hear the soft, steady ticking of one, and he didn't carry a watch or phone he could check. Danny's eyes wondered to one of the white walls for a moment as he tried to imagine it with a non-frosted window. Even a glance outside would be better than nothing. At least then he could tell for certain if it was day or night.

Heck, even watching the scenery for a while would be an improvement over his current activity of lying face up on the eerily pristine bed and staring at the ceiling. He had already checked the entire room (including under the bed) six times for anything he could use to at least get out of the room, and he could only do that so many times before it started to get to him. The exhaustion didn't help. While he was searching, his limbs had decidingly refused to remain normal for more than a few minutes at a time. From the time the strange occurrences began, he had experienced a few bad days, but nothing compared to this particular one. It was almost as if simply being in the room was making it worse.

The ceiling held no answers or a hidden plan of escape, but he continued to stare at it anyways. He knew he should be trying to escape while worrying about Winston and his friends, but he was unable to summon the effort. It was almost as if an odd hollowness had replaced his heart. He slowly sat up as he considered the strangeness of it. Maybe it was just that exhausted, or maybe the room was getting to him more than he thought.

…

A sweet smell caught his attention as he opened his eyes. Groggy and confused, he slowly sat up and stared for a moment as his brain tried to process what he was seeing. While he had been asleep, someone had placed a silver tray which held a small pastry and an unknown drink with a strangely appealing color on the floor. He was rather surprised he could see it from his location, but perhaps whoever had put it there had placed it there on purpose.

Curious, he slowly crawled off the bed and moved over to it. The pastry didn't seem like anything special, but he was starting to feel hungry and allowed himself to try it. The drink was different. He noted that whatever was in it was thicker than water and gave off a strong yet attractively sweet smell. It was also an unusual green color, which was what made him wary of it. The drink looked a little too much like the antifreeze he had occasionally helped Winston put into his car. He was probably being paranoid, but he was locked in room without any apparent way for him to escape. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that whoever put him there was going to eventually kill him. Isn't that what usually happened to kidnapped kids?

His eyes widened as the weight of his previous thought hit him. When a child went missing, didn't the news usually mention it was nearly impossible to find the child alive if the child couldn't be found within twenty four hours? And didn't adolescents fall into the same category when it came to the statistics? Panic welled up in his chest as he stared at his hands. Exactly how long had he been in the room? If anything, he was probably didn't have much time left. Well, he wasn't going to give up without a fight!

A guttural yell escaped him as he charged the only door in the room. The wood quivered for a moment as he bounced off of it and landed painfully on the floor. Undeterred and filled with resolve, he rushed it again and again with similar results. His whole body began to ache from the effort, but it wasn't enough to make him stop. He didn't want to die. He couldn't die! Not while his friends didn't know where he was (if they even knew he was missing), nor while Winston was still in the hospital. He just had to escape!

But he couldn't do anything if he was exhausted. After bouncing off the door about ten more times, he allowed himself to relax and rest against the side of the bed for a little before he tried again. His right shoulder was throbbing and his butt was sore from hitting the ground so many times, but he tried to ignore the pain as he examined the door. What was it made of? Steel? There didn't seem to be any sign of damage on it, but he had to have done something to it. When he recovered more, a closer look would be in order. Aiming for a weak spot would be far more beneficial than continuing to blindly run at it.

A though occurred to him as he looked at the door. Maybe he could pull the pins out of the hinges… It was so simplistic, it could actually work. Curious as to why he didn't think of it earlier, he slowly stood up and limped over. Wow, ramming it had taken more out of him than he thought.

He ran his fingers along the frame as he tried to find some sign of the hinges, but quickly realized it was futile. This door opened from the other side… There went that idea. Well, while he was there he might as well check the door for any signs of damage. There wasn't much to find, but there was some near the stubbornly locked doorknob. It wasn't as much as he had hoped but a few more hits to the right side of the door should be enough to at least get him out of the room. From there… he would have to wing it. He just hoped there weren't any other doors like the one currently keeping him captive out there. This one was bad enough.

Deciding it was not the best of ideas to attack the door again in his current state, he headed back towards the bed and laid down. He stole a quick look at the platter of food before he buried his face in the pillow. He was starting to get a bit hungry, but there was no way he was going to eat poisoned food. A growl combined with a gnawing feeling in his stomach entertained him as he drifted back into sleep.

…

"Why… won't… this thing…. Break?" Danny yelled as he kicked the door. After waking up, he had resumed his task of running at the door, but after no further progress, frustration had taken hold of him. He sighed as he banged his head off the door. If he couldn't get past something as simple as a door, how was he going to escape?

A clicking sound caught his attention. Glancing down at the doorknob, he noticed movement. Suspicious, he backed away and waited. The doorknob continued to rattle for a moment before a hard yank pulled the door completely open. The man who was revealed glanced at the door carefully before looking at Danny and smiling. "What exactly have you been getting yourself into? Hmm?"

"Y-you!" Danny stammered as recognition hit him. Vlad Masters had done well on his promise. Somehow the man had managed to take him from the police station and put him in this prison of a room. This was a worst case scenario… well, maybe not the worst. At least this man didn't particularly want to kill him, he hoped. "Where am I? What do you want from me?"

Vlad shook his pointer finger as if he was telling off a young child. "All in due time, my boy. But first, I must ask, how are you feeling?"

A blank stare was the only response Danny could give as he tried to process the question. This man kidnapped him and then turned around and asked about his condition. Was it him or did something just not add up?

Vlad took a couple steps into the room and glanced around. His eyes narrowed as he noticed the untouched tray of food Danny had carefully moved out of the way. "I see that you didn't touch your snack. I had a servant place it there in case you got hungry… It's been a couple days since I placed you here. You really should eat something…. Or at the very least, have a drink."

A couple days? He had been here for a couple days? Jeez… this room really did steal all sense of time. He shook his head. He would have to deal with it later; there were more important problems… like getting away from the madman in front of him. "Sorry, but that's been the last thing on my mind," he snapped.

Danny watched carefully as Vlad pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. From the limited interactions he had previously had with the man, he had learned enough to know Vlad was slightly annoyed. "Come now, Daniel," Vlad's tone almost matched the vary one Winston had used in the past when he was trying to convince him to do his chores. "Believe it or not, I do have your best interests at heart. Starving yourself isn't going to accomplish anything and neither is repeated throwing yourself against the door. You'll just be doing more damage to yourself than to it."

"Says the man who kidnapped me."

"I don't expect you to understand the reasons for my actions… at least not yet…" The older man moved to the tray to retrieve its lone cup before turning back to him. "But I assure you, everything was done for your benefit."

"Sorry if I don't believe you…"

"I assumed you wouldn't listen. We'll discuss this later once you've calmed down."

"'Calmed down'? Calm down! You've fricken kidnapped me! How the hell am I supposed to calm down?" His fists were balled and his shoulders tense as he spoke. It was taking almost all of his will power to not punch him in the face. Actually, that might not be a bad idea. Vlad didn't look all that strong, and he was a business man (they don't have time to work out)…. One good punch to the face should knock him out. And with the door finally being open, he could make his escape.

Without another thought, he charged Vlad. The older man looked surprised as Danny's fist came close in on its target. Danny smirked as he had a clean shot, but stumbled in horror as he landed. Instead of hitting a wall of flesh, his fist along with his body just passed through the man. Unsure exactly what happened, he slowly backed away. Glancing to his side, he realized he had a clear shot to the door and made a break for it.

Before he could even get through the opening, a strong pair of hands grabbed him from behind. He fought, flailed, and yelled in an attempt to break free, but whomever had him had a grasp like a vice. Apparently tired of his antics, his captor spun him around , let him go for a brief confusing moment, before using one arm to pin him against his body and to grab his chin with the other.

Being unable to move his head, Danny had no idea who was keeping him from escaping. Or, for that matter, where he had come from since it seemed like only Vlad had come alone. However, the person holding him felt unusually cold, almost as if he had been standing in a walk-in freezer just prior to him grabbing hold of him. Whoever this person was, he was a major obstacle in his goal to escape.

"Hold him still," Vlad commanded of his unknown aid as he approached the pair. Danny felt a little more than unnerved as he watched. There were no traces of kindness on his face, just a cold, calculating, business-like stare which sent shivers down his spine. "Daniel, I was hoping you weren't going to force me to do this, but as you've been rather uncooperative, you leave me little choice."

"W-what are you doing?" he stammered as Vlad held out the cup of the strange green liquid to him.

"It's simple really. You're body is already in the middle of realizing what it really is. This can take some time, but I know of a way of… let's just phrase it as 'speeding up the process'."

"I don't want any!" Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew it was a very childish thing to say, but he was absolutely terrified of whatever the drink or Vlad was going to do to him. "Get away!"

"You're in no position to give orders boy," the person holding him hissed into his ear and adjusted his grip so he could open his mouth by putting pressure on his cheeks.

Danny tried to break out of his captor's grasp, but he was far too strong. He barely managed a wiggle when Vlad poured the liquid into his open mouth. Unable to move, he was forced to drink the entire glass. Despite its sweet odor, it had a terribly bitter taste which was coupled with a burning sensation. It was enough to make him gag, and his stomach didn't appreciate it any better than his taste buds. The man who was holding him decided to let go of him, allowing him to drop to the floor, just in time to allow him to retch.

It seemed to take several long moments for him to regain control of his stomach. Once he did, he stole a look at Vlad, who seemed had a cold air of amusement around him. However, his attention was quickly taken by the figure besides the billionaire. It appeared to have a masculine shape, but it was clearly not human. Its skin had a sickly blue sheen, and its eyes were a sickening familiar soulless glowing red. An ethereal glow surrounded it as it floated a few inches off of the floor. Danny felt unnerved as recognition hit him; even though he had never seen it clearly before, this figure was the very same creature that had cornered him in the graveyard.

Vlad caught Danny's gaze and smiled. "I see you've previously met my associate, Plasmius."

Plasmius…? Why did that name sound so familiar to him? Wait… Winston had mentioned a person by a similar name when… His eyes widened as recognition hit him. "I d-don't understand…. W-why do you know it?"

"Whatever do you mean, my boy?"

"Winston… Winston said that he… it… attacked my parents. It's the reason why they're gone!" He weakly tried to stand, but his previous injuries from hitting the door suddenly seemed amplified making it incredibly difficult. "I don't understand. He said you were friends with them! Why… Why would you work with the thing that took them away?"

"It's rather simple, Daniel," the creature, Plasmius, told him with a wave of the hand. Without wasting another minute, it drove straight into Vlad. Horrified, Danny stayed rooted to the spot as Vlad's eyes glowed red for a moment. As they faded, a black ring which cackled with slight discharges of energy appeared around the man's waist. It then split into two and each one passed over one have of the body: one towards the feet, the other, the head. As they passed, Vlad's being was quickly replaced with that of Plasmius'. When the rings disappeared, Vlad Masters was gone; only Plasmius remained.

There was no way he had just witnessed what he did. It had to be a dream! There was no way a man could turn into a monster! It just wasn't possible!

"Can you really not believe what you just witnessed?" Plasmius asked as it floated closer to him. Every fiber of his being was screaming at him to run, but he couldn't. His fear had rooted him to the spot, and he was about to pay for it dearly. "Vlad Masters and Vlad Plasmius are truly one in the same even if one appears human while the other, a ghost." And, as to prove its point, it summoned the black rings again. Once they disappeared, Vlad Masters carefully dropped to the floor while continuing to move. "You asked me why I attacked your family. There are several reasons, but I suppose the primary one involves you."

"W-what do you mean…? Ugh!" As he spoke, a wave of pain raced through his body, dropping him down to his knees. He tried to steady himself by using one of his hands, but it refused by slipping through the floor instead of offering support. Danny stared at his arm in horror as the translucent appearance of his hand began to spread upwards towards his shoulder.

A chuckle escaped Vlad as he watched Danny's predicament with a sickening satisfaction. "Isn't it obvious? You're a lot more like me than you realize." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Do you believe in curses, Daniel? Even if you don't, you should as you're living proof of one. Legend states a family once delved too far into their work of studying the afterlife. To make sure their secrets would never be known, several powerful spirits cursed the family. Fifteen generations would pass before a male child would be born to them who neither completely belonged to the material or spirit realms…"

"Though this boy would appear human for his first fifteen years of life, he would come into his monstrous inheritance on his date of birth and forever after walk as a symbol of chaos." Vlad then knelt down and grabbed the boy's shoulder to make it easier for him to stare into his eyes. "Do you get it now? Everything I've done was to get a hold of you and the power you will soon possess."

"Y-you're lying! There's no way…! I can't be anything like you! You're a ghost… Th-they're dead! I'm not… I'm not…!" Danny pushed the older man away from his as he scooted backwards towards the wall. None of what he… no, it, said made any sense. Curse? Spirits? Did it mean it was going to turn him into a ghost too? He shook his head to try and clear away the thought. Vlad had said he wasn't going to hurt him… but that was before he showed him what he really was. What was he going to do?

A creepy laugh rang through the room. Vlad sneered at him as his laugh died. "Whoever said you had to die to become a ghost? But, you'll find out what I mean soon. It appears that the concentrated ectoplasm I gave you is finally starting to take effect." A satisfied look crossed his face while moving towards the door. "I'll be back to check on you in a few hours. I'm sure you'll be a lot more cooperative when I return."

Danny barely noticed when Vlad slammed the door closed. His body was starting to feel like it was on fire burning, yet freezing him as it began to consume him. He convulsed as his body tried to reject the unnatural feeling, but it was to no avail. Time which was already slow within the room seemed to come to a crawl as the pain took precedence over every other thought.

Unsure what drove him to move, he tried to force himself to the bed. It wouldn't accomplish much, but its promise of comfort appealed to his wreck of a body. Every step was sheer torture, but the call of the pristine sheets was enough to force him to keep moving.

Another wave of pain rocked his body, sending him to the floor mere inches from his goal. He groaned in agony as he realized it was getting worse. In a last attempt for some stability, he desperately grasped at one of his bed posts as another convulsion coursed through his body. The pain that accompanied it was even more intense than the previous time.

He could barely move as the pain seemed to burn throughout his body. In a desperate attempt for salvation, he reached out his hand in hopes someone or thing would show him mercy and save him all the while wondering what he had done to deserve such a fate…

===================================================================

Notes: A couple of different things here.

1) Danny's thoughts and feelings being affected by the room is not as farfetched as some people might think. Prolonged periods in a purely white room can cause aspects of sensory deprivation (a disconnect with ones senses). Some people use sensory deprivation for reflection or meditation without negative effects, but it has been known to drive people insane. Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia has several examples of this in its history.

2)The statistics of finding a child alive 24 hours after abduction is horrifying nonexistent. While it is true that sometimes a captor will keep the abducted child alive for years, cases like that are so rare that if the police can't find sign of the child within a day, they know they will most likely not find the child alive.

3) Antifreeze does usually have a sweet odor (unless bittering agents have been added as a deterrent), and sadly, ectoplasm sometimes reminds me of it.

4)Do you recognize the last few sentences of this chapter? You should. They're a more stylized version of the opening I have in the 1st chapter.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes attempting to escape gets you somewhere. Other times, you end up falling through the floor
> 
> Chapter warning: suggestions of an adult taking advantage of a minor

The pain was like nothing Danny had ever experienced. With each flare, his body became rigid in a desperate attempt to withstand it. He tried, desperately, to relax as the tension just added to the pain, but it was to no avail. The flares were coming in increasing intervals, and his body could not help but brace for them. It was made worse by the lingering burning sensation left from the previous attacks.

A scream escaped him as another flare, more intense than the last, forced him into an unnatural arch. He collapsed almost as soon as it was over. Gripping at the pristine carpet, he bit his lip to hold back another cry as an echo of the pain washed over him. It was difficult to tell how many of the painful flares had coursed through his body or how much time had passed since Vlad forced the unknown substance down his throat. All he understood was the pain was getting more intense, lasting longer, and affecting more of his body each time. Though he was not sure exactly how he knew, the pain he was experiencing had started on or in his skin and was progressively creeping inward, like a small camp fire slowly growing to its full potential.

He wanted to move, to run, to escape from the torture, but it was no use. The pain had left him feeling extremely fragile as if he would shatter if he attempted to move. There was no telling if the strange liquid along with the flares was actually doing damage to his body, or if his current predicament was benign. But it didn't matter anyways. Even if he did manage to move, he would just be struck down by another spasm.

Even if it did kill him, he was going to fight to the very end. He needed to know if Winston was okay, to apologize to his friends for being kidnapped, and to find out what exactly happened to his parents. He absolutely had to accomplish those before he died. There was no way he could ever face his friends and family again if he didn't.

…

Damn, it looked like he wouldn't be able to accomplish his goals after all. His body was beyond exhausted, so much so he could barely muster the strength to open his eyes. The linger burn still coursing through his abused body indicated he was still among the living. The slow and steady thumping of his heart and the rasps of his shallow breaths were the only sounds within the barren room. Each sound seemed to getting weaker as the moments crawled by, but it was difficult to tell just how much more his body could take before it just gave out.

His breath hitched as another flare engulfed his body, but it was different from all the previous ones. It was far more intense and showed no signs of stopping. His body was too overwhelmed by the sensation to even make a sound, and he briefly wondered if this was what dying felt like as the fiery pain seemed to be burning away what was left of his short life. Flashes of regret began to blend into his reality as a small part of his mind registered it was truly the end.

A strange tingling in his finger tips interrupted the pain and alerted him to a new sensation. An icy cold was beginning to seep into his hands. Did that mean the pain spasms were coming to an end? Relief washed through him but was almost immediately replaced by fear as he realized the cold wasn't a blessing. It had begun to snake its way into his body at an alarming rate, freezing the burning flesh and replacing the previously living tissue with frozen death.

The flaring pain did not dissipate as the coldness spread. Instead, it seemed to fight back against the cold to reclaim control. His body became a battle ground between fire and ice, living and dead, as the two forces warred back and forth. Cold tendrils grasped his heart and lungs momentarily halting them bringing more intense pain.

He grabbed at his chest and neck wishing there was something he could do as the fire intensified and tried to burn away the cold. His breathing quickened as he tried to keep himself from falling into the darkness which was gathering at the edges of his vision. The fire was back in control of his lungs, but it was losing ground. Within moments, the cold tendrils had wrapped themselves completely around them. As he took his last painful breaths before his lungs seized completely, he vaguely registered that the door to the room was opening as the blackness finally overtook him.

…..

Consciousness came back to him gradually. Better phrased, his concept of awareness returned. He knew he was curled into a ball while laying on something soft… a bed perhaps? He was stiff and wanted to move, but refrained due to a lingering notion… What was it…? Pain. He had been in pain before waking, but from what?

Slowly, he opened his eyes to find himself on a pure white bed with dark wooden posts. The room it was sitting in had little in terms of furniture and was also an unremarkable white color. Sitting up, his eyes caught sight of a stain on the carpet. An image stirred in his mind of a strange green substance spilling on it. Blood perhaps? No… his wasn't purely green; it was mixed with a human's red.

But wait… wasn't he human? He shook his head of the thought. It didn't seem completely right, but it wasn't entirely wrong either. He glanced at his hands in the hopes they held some sort of clue to his jumbled thoughts, but they were unremarkable: tanner than average will giving off a faint whitish glow.

Sitting up, he rested his face in his hands as he tried to piece together his jumbled thoughts. Most of his memories were blurs, flashing with momentary clarity before speeding away. Why wouldn't anything come to him? He knew someone who he didn't really like placed him in the room, but the reason behind it remained gone. Maybe some food would help him think better.

How had he not noticed how hungry he was until now? The feeling of emptiness in his stomach was enough to make him woozy. The feeling combined with a general weakness throughout his body made him feel hesitant to move lest he pass out again. Yet, he knew if he could make it to the center of the room there was something which would at least hold him over until he could find something more substantial.

Instinct eventually won out over his reason, and he forced himself to look for it. He tried to stand but nearly collapsed as soon as he started to put weight on his feet; whatever he had gone through before waking had really taken a toll on his body. Frustrated, he called upon the small reserve of energy held within his core to help take him to his destination.

Thinking it would be alright, he allowed himself to drop down to the floor, only to fall to his knees when gravity reasserted itself. Wow, he was weaker than he thought. Good thing the energy source was directly below him. He hesitantly placed a hand on the carpet above what he thought might be a large battery. He could feel it pumping out energy throughout the room under the floor and through the walls. Though it was difficult to tell exactly what the energy was, he knew it was somewhat dangerous to him. Perhaps it was designed to keep him in the room? Or maybe it was there to help prevent him from falling through the floor.

He could worry about the implications later. Right now, he needed to feed. Carefully, he pushed his hand through the carpet and wood underneath and allowed it to rest on the top of the machine beneath him. He could feel the energy start being directed from the machine and into his hand. He smiled in delight as the energy, which he now knew was electrical with some ectoplasmic properties, filled his body with power and lessened the hunger.

Vaguely, he wondered if it would be a problem if he continued to take the energy from the machine. Whoever had placed the machine there would probably be upset if it stopped working... So, he would only take a little bit more and then try to find another more viable source for later. It was a good plan, but a strange notion broke through his satisfaction. It wasn't normal for someone to put their hand through a solid object.

Panicked, Danny pulled his hand out of the floor and stared at it. He… he had just purposely put his hand through the floor! How did he…? Why did he…? He glanced down at the spot in question, hoping for some sort of answer. Nothing seemed out of place. Heck, if it wasn't for what had happened and the strange sensation telling him something was there, he wouldn't have even known the machine was just under the floor.

Confusion took over his thoughts as he rationally tried to understand how he knew it was there let alone take energy from it. He barely made any progress as he was suddenly hit with a wave of nausea. A groan escaped him as he could feel the sheen of sweat starting to form on his skin. Going from experience, he knew he was not going to be able to accomplish anything substantial until it passed. Danny took slow deep breaths as he propped himself against the bed as he attempted to wait it out.

Was this really going to continue to happen every time something weird happened to him? If so, he was really going to have to consider investing in Pepto-Bismol.

…

"Ah, I see you're awake," a cultured voice said in an offhanded way after the door to the room opened. There was a momentary pause before it spoke again, "Feeling under the weather? I can't say I blame you. Not only is your body adjusting to its new constitution, but ectoplasm isn't the friendliest of substances to ingest."

Danny could feel his eyes widen as he turned around to look at his captor. "Y-You knew about this…? W-what did you do to me?"

Vlad just smiled as he walked over and crouched down in front of him. "Of course I knew! We're the same breed after all." He then gently grabbed Danny by the jaw to prevent the boy from looking away. "I knew the concentrated ectoplasm would be enough to trigger a proper transformation. You should thank me; it would have taken you months to get this far."

"Transformation…? I don't…. What are you talking about?" He stammered as he tried to make sense of what the older man was saying as he slapped the man's hand away from him. Though he was feeling much better than he was previously, he didn't want to get too aggravated. There was no telling when his stomach was going to rebel against him again.

"You haven't realized it yet? …Or perhaps you've been too… occupied to even consider the differences in your body." Without a warning, Vlad then grabbed him by the arm and yanked him into a standing position before pulling him out of the room and down the hall. Danny barely had time to register the yellow and green décor of the hallway before he was shoved into what appeared to be an exceptionally large powder room complete with a full sized mirror. "Perhaps this will help make things clear, though I have to admit, I believed you were going to look much more impressive. Ah well, that will teach me to take complete stock in old legends."

Taking a few moments to make sure he was mostly fine before he gave the billionaire a puzzled glance. The man's response was to smirk and wave him towards the mirror and the reflection within it. Hesitantly, Danny complied though a few confused moments passed before he understood what he was truly seeing.

The boy in the mirror had a slightly tanned complexion combined with incredibly bleached (but was it truly bleached…?) snowy white hair with silvery highlights. The boy's eyes were an unnatural color; the same green of the drink Vlad had forced into him. The clothes were rather plain: straight legged black jeans with a couple accent chains and a black t-shirt with white trimming along the neck and sleeve edges. A white studded belt and black half-gloves with white cuffs completed the look.

It took him even longer to realize the image in front of him actually belonged to him. His immediate reaction was to look over his body to see if he wasn't hallucinating. How in the world did he manage to get into his current get up? While he didn't mind the overall effect (it was actually somewhat cool), he was a little more than creeped out by the implications. Glancing at the billionaire who was leaning against the door looking rather smug, Danny had to repress a shudder. No about of therapy would ever fix this.

"So… What do you think of the new you, Daniel?" Vlad asked him once he realized Danny was done taking in his new appearance.

"What do you mean 'what do I think'? How did you…? When did you….?" Danny's hands flailed as he tried to piece together a coherent question. Several more half-formed phrases were sputtered as slowly backed away from Vlad until he bumped into the sink.

The older man chuckled darkly as he watched Danny's frantic movements. "I assure you that the only thing I've done after giving you that drink was to place you on the bed. Nothing more, nothing less. Your current appearance is a product of your transformation."

"Transformation…? Is that what you're calling it?" Danny spat at Vlad as his suspicions began turning into horror. "Ugh!" Another wave of nausea overcame him causing him to stumble. Vaguely he understood his body still hadn't recovered properly which was being amplified by his panic. But, the majority of his mind just wanted to know 'why now'?

As he tried to recompose himself, his hand which was resting on the sink suddenly slipped. He was able to catch himself before he fell on his face, but quickly realized he hadn't actually slipped. Instead, his hand had decided it was a great time to become insubstantial and pass through it and part of the dark mahogany cabinet underneath. Panicking both from the event and the knowledge someone who was not a friend had witnessed the strange event, he tried to pull his arm free only to realize it had become effectively stuck.

"Panicking is only going to make the situation worse." Vlad's tone was rather matter of fact as he surveyed the scene. Danny couldn't understand how he wasn't disturbed by the sight in front of him, until he remembered Vlad wasn't just a man, he was a literal monster as well. The older man moved forward slightly with an outstretched hand. "Here, let me help you. There are several pressing matters awaiting both of us, and it saddens me to see you struggling with the most basic of your powers."

"Stay away from me! You're nothing more than a seriously crazed up fruitloop!" he shouted as he frantically tried to free his arm. Vlad paid him no mind as came over, gently grabbed his arm, and phased it out of the sink.

Under normal circumstances, Danny would have thanked the man for helping him out of such a situation. However, getting an arm stuck in a sink could never be considered 'normal.' "Get off me!" he shouted as he shoved Vlad, startling the older man. Knowing he had a chance, Danny made a break for the now unguarded door and ran down the hall in the opposite direction from where he originally came.

…

After turning yet another corner, Danny came to the conclusion he was hopelessly loss in a gigantic house belonging to a madman who was currently chasing after him. He wasn't even exactly sure how he knew the billionaire was in pursuit, but something in the back of his mind kept whispering that he needed to keep moving as Vlad wasn't too far away. It wasn't quite a flight or fight instinct as that wouldn't give him knowledge of which general direction Vlad was in, but he wasn't too sure what else to call it. Whatever it was, it was certainly useful. Even if he couldn't find the exit, he would at least be able to stay one step ahead of his pursuer.

… Well, as long as his energy held up he could stay ahead. He was still rather stiff from the pain and convulsions from prior to passing out. It also didn't help he was still nauseous, but it was starting to pass. He was pleasantly surprised. Usually, he wasn't very athletic, but he had covered an impressive amount of ground in the time he had escaped from Vlad. It was probably adrenaline, but he didn't care. Any little edge which could help him get away was very welcome.

He shook his head as he rested against a nearby wall as he gave himself a moment to relax and try to get all the images out of his head. Not knowing exactly what happened to him while he was unconscious was serious starting to freak him out, but he needed to keep his wits about him if he was going to have any chance of escaping.

A cold sensation interrupted his thoughts causing him to look to his right. Vlad was starting to get close to where he was again, but how was the man coming from that particular direction? Wasn't he coming from behind him a few minutes before hand? He shook his head again as he started sprinting down the hall. Fear was starting to eat at him as he ran. Vlad's presence seemed to get closer every time he came to another bend. It was almost as if he was moving through the walls…. It took Danny a moment to realize that was a very real possibility. If Vlad could pass through solid objects such as people, wouldn't he be able to do the same with the walls?

Danny skidded to a stop as he came to another crossway in the green and yellow decorated corridors. He was getting nowhere fast, and he only had moments before Vlad found him. Taking another quick break, he took the left hallway and started moving even faster than he had been previously. At the end of the hall was an open area, which appeared to lead to a large staircase. If he could get there, he would probably be somewhere near an exit!

There was only a few feet left until he would be able to see the new area clearly, meaning it would only take a few seconds, but his luck refused to hold out. He stumbled which caused him to fall face first to the floor.

….

Danny was incredibly disoriented as his vision cleared. He must have hit his head when he fell. Damn it! He had been so close! Wait, how long had it been since he fell? Had Vlad found him? Standing up, he found himself in a rather large room with the ceiling being exceptionally high. More than a little unsure where he was, he started looking around for an exit.

The walls of this room were even more unremarkable than the ones in the room he had been trapped in for a few days. Theses ones were a dull gray; no different than a slab of concrete. In fact, that maybe exactly what they were made of. There were no windows or apparent doors which made it feel more like a prison. Vlad must have found him and thrown him in to teach him a lesson. Damn it! How was he going to be able to escape now?

While he continued to look around, something hard stabbed him in the back. He was about to swat it away when a strange and unpleasant energy spread from the object's tip into his body. A scream escaped him as the energy burned and shocked him, creating a feeling almost equaling the pain of the spasms from earlier. Just as suddenly as they started, they stopped. Relief washed through him as he tried to recover, but it was short lived. Something hard hit his face and sent him flying into the closest wall about three feet off the floor.

Sliding down the wall was almost as bad as being hit. The wall had originally been a smooth texture, but his impact created several spider web cracks. To say the least, it was a very unpleasant feeling to slide over them as he fell to the floor. As he tied to sit up and figure out what hit him, something with that same pulsing energy as before came very close to his neck. He looked up to see a glowing green bo staff being wielded by what he assumed was a person. It appeared to have a woman's shape, but it was dressed in a protective suit… What were they called…? Hazmat…? Yes, hazmat… that sounded right.

The suit was a strange blue – gray color and skin tight. It had a hood which was pulled up over the unknown person's head, hiding the hair. Redish goggles completed the outfit and made the person's eyes seem inhuman and angry.

"Don't move!" the person hissed, moving the end of the bo staff a little closer to Danny's neck. "I don't know why Vlad sent you, but I am not going to let a ghost harm either me or my daughter!" The voice was harsh, protective, and unfamiliar, but it was female.

"Woah! Hold on a second!" Danny stammered as he eyed the glowing weapon in front of him. "I'm not going to hurt you! I didn't even realize you were here!"

The woman's eyes narrowed from within her goggles as she connected her staff with his skin once again. His screams only ended when the staff's strange energy was no longer coursing through his body. "Nice try ghost," she told him as she stabbed him with it again. "But I'm not going to fall for it! All of you are the same!"

"Wh-what are you talking about…?" Danny asked weakly as the weapon was removed. Not only were the shocks painful, but they seemed to be zapping his strength. "What ghost? I'm… I'm not a ghost!"

"Oh, and I suppose normal people have unnaturally white hair and glow?"

"Hey, that was something Vlad did to me…! Wait a minute… I'm glowing?" A memory from when he first woke up in the white room flashed though his mind. He glanced down at his hands and examined them closely. It was hard to see in the light, but there did appear to be a faint white glow around his hands. "Why the hell am I glowing? What was in that drink he gave me?"

"You didn't even realize…" the woman muttered faintly as she continued to stare at him. Her expression wasn't completely devoid of malice, but at least some curiosity had made its way into it. "You're either newly formed or a really good actor… Hmm… I've never gotten to study a newly formed ghost before…"

Danny tried to scoot away from her. He didn't like how this conversation was starting to go. However, he would probably still choose dealing with the woman with the weapon and questionable sanity instead of the creepiness that was Vlad any day. "Look, I really didn't mean to bother you!" he told be quickly as once again looked around for an exit, but it was difficult due to the woman's proximity to him. "I really want to leave as much as you seem to want me to, so if you could please just show me where the door is, I'll be out of your hair!"

The woman frowned at his words as if she was making sure she had heard him correctly. She once again put her staff underneath his chin. He flinched at the touch as he prepared for another shock, but none came. He opened his eyes to see that the woman was using the staff to help her get a clearer view of his face. What was it with people doing that to him? Was there something wrong with the way he looked? Well… that was a ridiculous question to ask with his current appearance, but at least the woman wasn't shocking him this time.

"Fascinating! Your form is incredibly similar to that of a human's, and you clearly still think like one."

"'Think'? What's with this think business? I am human!"

The woman seemed like she was about to say something else, but was gently pushed aside by a smaller form with long red hair. "Mom!" the figure warned as she glanced back and forth between him and the woman. "You're scaring him!" She then turned towards Danny, smiled, and extended her hand. "Here, I'll help you up. By the way, my name is Jazz."

============================================

Um, I'm just going to point this out now. I don't support Pompous Pep, at all. But with the way Vlad's acting and being very vague about the entire event, combined with Danny having no clue how he got the change of clothes adds up to Danny's suspicions. Honestly, I wasn't even expecting to add that bit in there until I started writing it and realized, "wow, this situation just suggests pedophile…. Vlad, you are a creepy man!"

Oh, and to explain the part where Danny woke up… I'm not sure how many of you are familiar with the different aspects of ghosts, but it is not unusual to see electronic equipment act up or lose power when a ghost is present. Current belief is that the ghost will somehow barrow power from a device and use it manifest itself. Some can also draw on emotions (like Spectra), but those tend to be negative entities.


End file.
